Reconnecting to the River In the spring of 2005 Chattanooga capped an ambitious urban redevelopment program with the completion of a three-year initiative, dubbed the 21st Century Waterfront Plan. The $120 million project, including expansions of three major downtown attractions and over $60 million in enhancements of public parks and recreation along the Tennessee River, crowned a 20-year revitalization process. Highlights from the riverfront renewal projects include: • The Tennessee Aquarium added a 60,000-sq.-ft. freestanding building next to the original freshwater aquarium. The $30 million project houses a 500,000-gallon saltwater habitat reminiscent of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. Two different habitats on the roof under distinctive glass canopies include a macaw exhibit and a butterfly gallery. (Architect: Chermayeff, Sollogub & Polle, Boston) • The Hunter Museum of American Art, which sits on a bluff adjacent to the arts district, was isolated by a four-lane state highway. The $19 million expansion put the front doors of the Hunter within four blocks of the aquarium plaza. The project included a new entrance and additional gallery space, as well as 20,000-sq.-ft. of renovation. (Architect: Randall Stout Architects, Los Angeles) • After nine years and lots of contact with almost four million little hands, The Creative Discovery Museum enriched its offerings by creating two new exhibits while renovating and redesigning its core exhibits. The project cost $3 million. (Architect: Tom Kraemer, Cincinnati) • The $61 million in public park improvements along the Tennessee River include the redevelopment of Ross’s Landing Park, 2,500 feet of hard-edged shoreline for mooring leisure boats, a 40-foot wide City Pier extending 160 feet into the river, and an expansion of Coolidge Park on the northshore to include 23-acres of wetlands. The project includes $1.2 million for public art, including The Passage, developed by Gadugi, five Cherokee artists from Oklahoma. The project symbolizes the historic Trail of Tears, the path Cherokees took when they were forced to relocate from Chattanooga and other cities in the east. The main artistic element is a series of seven carved and glazed clay medallions inset into the west wall of a walkway connecting the Aquarium to Ross’s Landing. Each medallion represents a specific aspect of the tribe's history, its religious beliefs and its past struggles with colonial settlers. In the 1990s, Chattanooga won national attention with its successful downtown and neighborhood revitalization initiatives. It was named one of the most livable cities in the United States and cited as a model of successful city planning in college textbooks. The city had been founded as a trading post on the Tennessee River. Eventually, developments on the edge of the river made the community feel cut off from its roots. Through public processes in the mid -1980s, the community developed a "commitment portfolio" of master plans and specific projects, as well as an overarching vision of reconnecting Chattanooga with the river. One effort created the Tennessee Riverpark, a complex of riverfront green spaces, including a walking path that extends from downtown Chattanooga across 11 miles to the Chickamauga Dam. The Walnut Street Bridge, a vehicle bridge, which had been slated for demolition, was converted into the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. This effort created a connection between the Tennessee Riverpark on the southside of the river and the northside of the river, where Coolidge Park, a popular recreational area featuring an antique carousel and a fountain pool, was later established. Of course, the most conspicuous sign of Chattanooga’s effort was the construction of the largest fresh water aquarium in the world on the southern bank of the Tennessee River. Completed in 1992, the Tennessee Aquarium became an anchor for downtown business investments and regional tourism as well as a symbol of Chattanooga’s rebirth and reconnection to the river. A decade later, officials agreed that the largest obstruction to Chattanooga’s vision of reconnecting with the river was the Riverfront Parkway, a roadway that cut between the Tennessee Aquarium and the riverfront. As a state highway, the Parkway couldn't be changed by local officials. "After proposing several scenarios, we finally asked the state to give Riverfront Parkway to the city, and TDOT [the Tennessee Department of Transportation] agreed to that request," said Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who was Mayor of Chattanooga at the time. "Suddenly, with the removal of that obstacle, our community had a ‘blue sky’ opportunity to transform our waterfront." The Tennessee Department of Transportation approved the request, and the 21st Century Planning process began in February of 2002. As they had done in the 1980s, Chattanoogans developed the plan through a series of public meetings. "Gaining control of Riverfront Parkway was like being handed a blank canvas," Corker said. "The community responded with so many great ideas we couldn’t wait to make them happen." After reviewing the 21st Century Waterfront Plan, Corker realized Chattanooga could leverage its experience with public-private partnerships to complete the plan in just three years. Corker organized a joint fundraising campaign involving the Tennessee Aquarium, the Hunter Museum of American Art, and the Children’s Discovery Museum. Creative Discovery Museum It was the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the history of a community known for ambitious fundraising. In just 90 days, private donors had pledged $42 million for the implementation of the plan. The private sector donations were combined with public sources of revenue to create the $120 million fund needed to complete the 21st Century Waterfront Plan. With a county population of 311,000 people, the effort was notable for the sheer scale of its per capita investment, but the effort was also remarkable for its timetable which scheduled completion of the project in May of 2005, just three years after the public planning process began. In addition to moving Riverfront Parkway to create Ross’ Landing Park, a waterfront recreation area, and transforming the state highway into a pedestrian-friendly two-lane road , the plan included a number of building projects, including expansions of the Tennessee Aquarium, the world's largest freshwater aquarium, and the Hunter Museum of American Art, which boasts one of the best collections of American art in the nation. The project included renovation of the Creative Discovery Museum, an award-winning children’s center for play and learning. The project also solidified Chattanooga’s long-sought connection to the river. A pedestrian path leads from the aquarium to a newly established green space area at Ross’s Landing – the site of the city’s immensely successful summer music extravaganza, the Riverbend Festival. The project created better space for entertainments, with terraces stepping down to the river’s edge. In addition, the pubic marina was upgraded, and mooring spaces were added all along the riverfront to accommodate visitors who arrive by boat. A special feature of the Waterfront Plan called for connecting walkways, steps and bridges that will allow people to move easily from the Aquarium to the Hunter Museum to the Walnut Street pedway that leads across the river to Coolidge Park. Hunter Museum of American Art On the north shore of the river, Coolidge Park was expanded to Renaissance Park, a preserve west of the Market Street Bridge that offers opportunities for strolling and other recreation along the river. The Waterfront Plan also included areas for development by private commercial investors. These private investments are projected to top $60 million and create downtown condominiums, loft apartments, and other housing units. Private development will also account for a number of new shopping venues. City leaders expect that by 2015 the 21st Century Waterfront plan will have spurred as much development as the building of the Aquarium during its first decade. In the decade that followed the original Aquarium opening in 1992, five new hotels opened downtown and overall employment in the downtown area grew dramatically. "This community has invested, worked, and achieved so much over the last 20 years," Corker said. "In my mind, taking our effort to the next level is the best way to celebrate the commitment and community spirit that has brought us this far." Chattanooga is a community that has envisioned a better future for itself and then invested its resources in making that future happen. The successful completion of the 21st Century Waterfront Plan suggests a future where tourism increases at impressive rates as the community continues to enjoy this wonderful place to live, work, and play.

Waterfront FACTOIDS • More than 300 citizens participated in public meeting to shape the ideas that became the 21st Century Waterfront. • From concept to full implementation the 21st Century Waterfront was completed in just 35 months. • The 21st Century Waterfront was financed in a way which required no City of Chattanooga general funding. • Then Mayor Bob Corker led the private fundraising effort for the project and in just 90 days caused $51 million in private funds to be put in place for the project. • Over 1,100 trees were planted at the waterfront as part of the project. • There are over 39 acres of new park developed in the 21st Century Waterfront; 12.5 acres at Ross’s Landing, three acres along First Street and 23.5 acres at Renaissance Park, which is three times as big as Coolidge Park. • The Holmberg Pedestrian Bridge, connecting the Hunter Museum to downtown, is 250 feet long, contains a 45,000-pound illuminated glass walking deck and over 40 tons of steel. • There are over 2,770 feet of new boat dockage at the waterfront. • The new City Pier is 600 feet long, beginning at the River Pier Landing Condominiums and crossing Riverfront Parkway at street grade. • There are seven light masts on the Pier. Each is 2 feet in diameter and 40 feet tall. • The Passage, the memorial to the Trail of Tears, is over 350 feet long, running from First Street to the River. • Each of the seven disks in the Passage is 6 feet in diameter and involved hundreds of hours of archeological research. • The seating terraces beside the Passage feature 11 mooring posts designed to accommodate commercial river craft of over 400 feet. Tennessee Aquarium