Lynnbrook Park

Chattanooga is filled with deep history, vibrant culture, and passionate communities. But like most cities, it lacks green spaces to bring people together outside. Using intricate geospatial data, Trust for Public Land has worked closely with the city to identify an ideal site for a new park, landing on a 1.4-acre vacant lot primed to help 3,000+ people gain access to green space within a 10-minute walk of their home. Lynnbrook Park will join a community that is highly diverse, predominantly low-income, and open to a series of environmental vulnerabilities.

The 1.4-acre site contains a tributary stream of the Dobbs Branch watershed, which sits underneath an asphalt lot, then flows through a concrete channel. Lynnbrook Park will restore this stream to showcase its natural beauty while reducing flooding risks. In addition to this updated stormwater management, the Water Quality Program is planning a project to the south of the site—maximizing the impact of this work outside park limits.

Using a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, TPL hired a team of artists to employ cultural activities and art forms to help the community create and share its vision for the vacant lot. From there, the City of Chattanooga budgeted funds to complete the design of the new park and is moving toward the construction phase. Working closely with residents has been paramount to creating a park that reflects the community’s cultural and artistic values.