City of Knoxville - Senior Directors

DIRECTORS

SAM ANDERSON
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES

Accomplishments

1. NEW PARKS

Since 1988 the Parks and Recreation Department, under the leadership of the mayor and Director Sam Anderson, has built the following new parks in Knoxville for the attached costs.

Parkridge Park (in the Parkridge Community) involved the demolition of old, run down shacks and replacement with with a nice, community park to serve the Parkridge area. This park has a picnic gazebo, walking path with bridge, basketball courts, playground, picnic tables and flower beds. Constructed at the cost of $83,000.

Holston River Park (in east Knoxville along the Holston River). The property that this 44 acre park was built on was originally purchased as part of a State grant. This overgrown area was converted to one of the nicest parks in Knoxville with amenities such as irrigated soccer fields, a boat launch, two large picnic shelters, a mile long walking trail, fishing piers, and a large playground. This park serves all of east Knoxville and was constructed at the cost of $625,000.

Adair Park was developed on some abandoned property owned by the City. Originally it was the city horticulture maintenance facility, but is now a 17 acre park providing local residents a passive area to walk and bike on a 4/10 mile trail, enjoy a scenic creek and pond flourishing with wildlife, picnic on individual tables or in a large picnic gazebo. There is a large open green space suitable for kite flying, pickup games of football or throwing frisbees. There is also an adjoining community building in the park that is available for use by local residents for meetings, birthday parties and other such gatherings. The cost of putting in this park was $164,000.

Westview Park came into being as a cooperative effort between the City of Knoxville and the Westview neighborhood. The neighborhood was looking to improve their community by removing run down housing and adding a park in its place. The Parks and Recreation Department purchased several old houses, demolished them, and constructed a beautiful passive park. This 6 acre park is a central point for the community to recreate. There are picnic tables, covered shelters, play areas, basketball courts, and a walking trail winding throughout the park. The total cost of this project was $189,000. As part of a second phase to this park, additional properties have recently been purchased and added to the Westview Park. Monies from the Community Development Block Grant of $60,000 allowed for funds to complete this second phase of the park.

Governor Ned McWherter/Riverside Landing Park was constructed as a result of City worling with the State of Tennessee to utilize the property immediately below the South Knoxville Bridge, on the north side of the Tennessee River. In this park an area was developed for fishermen to park their vehicles and launch their boats or fish from the shore. There are also picnic tables and a playground area. The cost of this project was $300,000.

Lakeshore Park was a major initiative of the City of Knoxville and the non-profit group Knoxville Youth Sports to take unused state property previously used as part of Lakeshore Mental Health Facility and convert it to active recreation space. The City of Knoxville leased 60 acres from the state and then sub-leased the property to KYS for the specific purpose of building six youth baseball fields, three soccer fields and a walking trail around the property. Besides providing the land the City also allocated $3,500,000 to match the privately raised money to build the fields and construct the 2.1 mile trail.

Northwest Middle School Park came to be as a cooperative effort between the City of Knoxville, the Norwood community and the Knox County School System. On the Northwest Middle School property soccer fields, a picnic gazebo and a one mile walking trail were constructed to serve the greater northwest Knoxville area. The cost to the city to build this much used park was approximately $88,000.

In addition to the above parks added to the park system for Knoxville, other small neighborhood parks were also built. These include the Frajen Campbell Park in Mechanicsville, Westwood Park in the Westwood sub-division, Baxter Avenue Park, located next to a new fire station in Old North Knoxville, Boright Park, which had previously been a street median in the Whittle Springs neighborhood, Sam Hill Park in Lonsdale, The South Knoxville Optimist Club Building and Park and the Bi-Centennial Park located next to Fulton High School.

2. RENOVATIONS

In addition to putting in new parks the Parks and Recreation Department has also been involved in doing some major renovations of existing parks. These include:

Harriet Tubman Park, located adjacent to Vine Magnet School, was renovated in 1992-93 as part of a federal grant that included adding tennis courts, basketball courts, a playground structure, a picnic area and a large gazebo.

Morningside Park was also improved at the time Harriet Tubman was renovated as part of the same federal grant (totaling $350,000). Improvements included adding a large picnic area, a new playground, improvements to the walking trail and disc golf course. Morningside Park was awarded the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association’s 4 Star Award for best park in 1994.

In 1997 the city added Haley Square to Morningside Park. This $600,000 addition was done in cooperation with KCDC, the State of Tennessee and AAAA, and included a large statue of autor Alex Haley, a large playground with parking and landscaping.

Fort Dickerson Park was expanded and improved in 1994 when Vulcan Materials Inc. donated 20 acres of property that adjoined Fort Dickerson Park to the south. This property brought the total park acerage to over 85 acres. That same year an overlook structure was built that allows for a panoramic view of the old rock quarry that is now a beautiful lake, sitting in the middle of the wooded park. Also, the length of Fort Dickerson Road was repaved. The total cost of this work is $117,400.

Sharp’s Ridge Park, the 111 acre wooded area sitting as the highest spot in Knoxville, has seen several improvments in the past 11 years. Included in these are the construction of an overlook facing south, allowing visitors to see downtown Knoxville and on clear days the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Also, two picnic areas have been added, a hiking trail running a few hundred feet from the park road was built in cooperation with the State Forestry Office and the entire mile and one half road was repaved. The expenditures on this ongoing project is $121,000.

Ijams Nature Center has seen major improvements as new property has been purchased and donated to increase the total acreage to over 100 acres. In addition to this expansion, a major fund raising effort was initiated by the nature center board which coupled with city contributions of over $1,000,000, allowed for the construction of a new comprehensive center and interpretive trails. This is now one of the nicest centers of its kind in the United States.

3. TENNIS

The Parks and Recreation Department maintains 75 tennis courts throughout the city of Knoxville. These courts, all open to the public, require ongoing maintenance to ensure a safe playing area. Since 1989, 65 of these courts have been systematically resurfaced to eliminate cracks, provide adequate drainage and help keep the courts playable. The approximate cost of doing this is work was $375,000.

Along with the 65 tennis courts that have been renovated, the Parks and Recreation Department also did a major renovation of the Tyson Family Tennis Center in Tyson Park. The club house was updated and renovated in 1994-95, a tennis coordinator was hired on contract to handle lessons, leagues and tournaments and 11 of the 14 tennis courts have been resurfaced. The end result has been increased use and interest in tennis city-wide. In 1998 the Tyson Family Tennis Center was named the best public tennis facility in the country by the United States Tennis Association.

4. RECREATION CENTERS

There are twenty recreation centers that the Parks and Recreation Department operates in Knoxville. Since 1988 there have been several major renovations to these facilities to update and expand the services provided. Included in these renovations have been:

Adding weight rooms to Cal Johnson Recreation Center, South Knoxville Community Center, Milton Roberts Recreation Center, Deane Hill Recreation Center, Christenberry Recreation Center and Cumberland Estates Recreation Center ($60,000)

Putting in dance studios at Cumberland Estates and Christenberry Recretaion Centers ($18,000)

Installing new roofs at New Hope Recreation Center, Milton Roberts, Cumberland Estates, the Adaptive Center, Cal Johnson and Deane Hill ($300,000)

Renovating the swimming pool at the South Knoxville Community Center.

Putting in new wood gym floors at Milton Roberts, Cal Johnson and Cecil Webb ($130,000)

Constructed a new 5,000 square foot addition to the Deane Hill Recreation Center for the primary purpose of providing a place for the Knoxville Bridge Club to meet and play ($475,000).

Building a major addition onto the John T. O’Connor Senior Center to add more rooms to help deal with the ever growing number of senior citizens who come to the center ($626,000)

Also, with the growing demand for leisure services from the greater Knoxville Community the recreation centers have expanded their programs to include many more exercise programs, ceramic classes, after-school programs for children and senior dances; to name just a few.

5. PLAYGROUNDS

One of the first priorities of the Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department was to ensure that parks and school areas in the city had safe playgrounds. Most of the play structures in the city in 1988 were old and did not meet national safety requirements. The Parks and Recreation Department began in 1988 to sytematically replace old play structures and to install new ones throughout Knoxville. To date over 90 new play structures have been put in at city parks and on school playgrounds. The cost to date is $734,500.

The one playground that the Parks and Recreation Department is especially proud of is the one at Tyson Park that was completed in 1998. This play structure is the largest in the City of Knoxville and is one of the largest of its kind in the southeastern United States. The unique aspect of this play area is that over half of it has an undersurface called Vitroturf that allows for wheel chair access. Tyson Park has always been a favorite place for children to come play and now with the new play equipment it is busier than ever. The cost of the new equipment was $150,000.

6. SWIMMING POOLS

In 1993 the City of Knoxville began plans to build the new Ed Cothren outdoor swimming pool to serve the Mechanicsville, Lonsdale and Beaumont communities. The pool was constructed on the site of the old Beardsley Junior High School, along Western Avenue. The cost of constructing this olympic sized pool, with restroom facilities, concession stand, parking lot and picnic area was $485,000. Two years after the pool was completed and opened to the public, the City of Knoxville had the old, run down junior high school building torn down to further enhance the appearance of the area. Currently there is a grant application being processed with the State of Tennessee that would provide approximately $250,000 for further improvements to this park site.

At the city’s other outdoor public pool (Inskip Pool) we did a major renovation in 1994 spending an estimated $115,000 to put in new plumbing and filtration system, update the concession building, improve the restrooms and purchase new equipment.

7. GREENWAYS

Greenways - Constructed Total Miles

Adair and Sue Clancy 1.1
Bearden 2.1
Cavet Station 1.0
Community Unity 0.6
First Creek in First Creek Park 0.9
First Creek in Caswell Park 0.5
Gary Underwood 0.8
Holston River 2.0
James White 1.0
Jean Teague 1.9
Lakeshore 2.25
Malcolm Martin 0.3
Morningside 1.6
Neyland 3.0
North Hills 0.25
Northwest Middle School 1.9
Sequoyah 2.6
Third Creek 4.5
Turkey Creek 2.0
Victor Ashe 0.67
Weisgarber 1.0
Westview 0.26
Will Skelton 3.62
TOTAL MILEAGE 35.85 MILES

Greenways-Under Construction Total Miles

Loves Creek 0.25
Papermill Bluff 0.8
Knox/Blount 7.0
10-Mile Creek
Lower Second Creek 0.3
Upper Second Creek 0.3
TOTAL MILEAGE 8.65 MILES

Greenway Commission

The Greenway Commission is appointed by the Mayor and as such is a legal arm of the city government. The Greenway Commission is composed of neighborhood representatives, government officials, and greenway advocates. The commission reviews all city greenway projects. The commission members also meet with neighborhood groups to create new greenways. The commission helps to facilitate easements for new greenways and so far the city has not had to pay for any of those easements.

Awards

In 1997 the City of Knoxville was named "Greenway City of the Year" by National Geographic, The DuPont Foundation and The Conseration Fund.

8. SENIOR PROGRAMMING

Since 1988 the City of Knoxville’s Parks and Recreation Department has been working diligently on providing a higher level of service to the growing senior population of the city. At almost every recreation center there is programming geared specifically for senior citizens. Examples of this programming are aerobic classes, arts and crafts, ceramics, and wellness sessions, and water exercise classes. Also, each May the Parks and Recreation Department recognizes "Older Americans Month" by hosting dozens of special activities such as field trips, appreciation luncheons, dances, fashion shows, information workshops and games.

Parks and Recreation works with the Community Action Committee to provide year round training and activities for seniors at the John T. O’Connor Senior Center on Winona Avenue. This center, which has recently been expanded to handle the growing numbers of participants, provides classes such as computer education, arts and crafts and photography to name a few. The center strives to provide classes in various topics of interest to seniors. There are health screenings, dance classes, covered dish lunches and field trips weekly.

In 1996 the Parks and Recreation Department organizes one of the first senior softball leagues in Tennessee. This league, open to men 50 years of age and older, has been a big success with the number of teams growing each year. These leagues are held each spring and fall.

Also in 1996 the Parks and Recreation Department officially took over the operation of the four recreation centers in the KCDC high rise towers at Isabella, Northgate, Guy B. Love and Cagle. These centers are primarily occupied by senior citizens and our staff provides an outlet where individuals can play games, shoot billiards, take field trips, work on arts and crafts and do about anything they can think of for fun and recreation.

9. BALLPARKS

There are ten community ballparks throughout Knoxville that the Parks and Recreation Department works with on an ongoing basis to help provide a fun, safe place for the youth of the city to participate in organized athletics. We have supported basketball, football, baseball and softball to a great extent and provide financial support to track and soccer programs locally. Since 1988 the Parks and Recreation Department has replaced fencing on dozens of ballfields, upgraded and added lighting to fields at each of the recreation commissions, helped build new restroom, purchased bleachers, paved parking lots, put up netting, rebuilt fields, constructed batting cages, reroofed buildings and planted hundreds of trees. The City of Knoxville has spent in excess of $800,000 since 1988 on making improvements to community ballparks.

10. GRANTS

In 1988 the Parks and Recreation Department initiated its Challenge Grants Program in Knoxville. This program basically provided community groups to apply for 50/50 matching grants to make some improvement to a public recreational areas. This program has been extremely successful with groups such as neighborhood associations, school PTA’s, youth athletic commissions, garden clubs and people with special interests in seeing general improvements made to parks or recreational facilities. This program allows the community to share in making things better in Knoxville. Examples of the grants that have been awarded over the years include, putting in new flower beds in North Hills Park, building new playgrounds at several schools, making improvements to the existing disc golf course at Morningside Park, building a picnic shelter at Alice Bell Ballpark, and a gazebo at Gresham School. To date we have spent over $525,000 on grants for these purposes.