Yesterday, River City Co., community members + local leaders met at the Tennessee Aquarium for a presentation of the ONE Riverfront District Master Plan.
President of River City Co., Emily Mack, beginning the presentation | Photo by NOOGAtoday
Since January 2020, the ONE Riverfront Cha project team has gathered feedback from more than 2,300 community voices in an effort to revitalize the riverfront area.
The company worked with the MKSK Studios consulting team to put together the final plan, including 4 aspirations + 8 strategies.
Snapshot of the Riverfront district study area | Provided by MKSK Studios
The 4 aspirations
- Activate the riverfront
- Create a place for all Noogans
- Develop a great sense of place
- Strengthen connectivity to the riverfront
Rendering of the Riverfront district and some of the new amenities | Photo by NOOGAtoday
The 8 strategies
- Humanize the parks | Provide comforting + exciting spaces that can evolve to meet community needs — movable chairs, umbrellas, etc.
- Come together at the river | Create a nucleus of activity, engage local chefs, creators, and artists + implement weekly programming
- Build inclusively | Establish the district as a place for everyone by adding business + housing with opportunities for grants, subsidies, and workforce development
- Establish the riverfront front door | Energize the parkway, complete the green + eat, drink, and socialize on the river
- Create a civic campus | Make the aquarium plaza active 18 hours a day, 7 days a week + have the block serve as both a destination and connective tissue
- Boldly connect downtown | Signal to motorists that this is a pedestrian-friendly space that serves as “civic spine through the urban core of Chattanooga”
- Refresh the riverwalk | Add wayfinding graphics + maps so visitors know all the great businesses and opportunities that are in close proximity
- Get your feet wet | Create a safe put-in for watercrafts, revisit the idea of a water taxi, and add floating features, like floating wetlands (which builds on the conservation mission of the TN Aquarium), piers, and platforms
Watch the presentation + submit questions and comments here.
Which proposed feature has you doing a happy dance?
- More businesses, restaurants, and events
- Better access to the river
- Housing opportunities
- A water taxi + floating wetlands and platforms
Drink
- Green Drinks at Waterhouse Pavilion | Wed., July 28 | 5-7 p.m. | Waterhouse Pavilion | Free | Learn more about the ONE Riverfront plan from the folks behind River City Co. at this cocktail + conversation event. 🍸
TryThis
- Green Steps Litter Challenge | Wed., July 28 | 6-8 p.m. | Renaissance Park | Free | Grab your trash grabbers + gloves to pick up litter — trash equals prizes here. 🚮
Outdoors
- Wednesday Night Social Paddle | Wed., July 28 | 5 p.m. | Meet under the Market St. Bridge in Coolidge Park | $40 | Bring your own paddleboard, kayak, or canoe or rent one for $40 to paddle with other Noogans. 🛶
Learn
- Job Searching 101 | Wed., July 28 | 6-7 p.m. | The Chattery, virtual | $15 | Learn how to search effectively for your dream job + how to set healthy boundaries as you go through the process.
WaterCooler
PlanAhead
- Vision & Verse + Dance: Erika Roberts And Chiara Beck | Thurs., July 29 | 6-7 p.m. | The Hunter Museum | Free | Poet Erika Roberts + dancer Chiara Beck will celebrate poetry and dance in a performance blending original poetry with a textile-inspired dance.
- City Sweat | Thurs., July 29 | 5-8 p.m. | Waterhouse Pavilion | Free | Break a sweat with Onsight Fitness’ Workout + Fitness Expo. 💦
- Drink and Discover: County Fair | Sat., July 31 | 7-10 p.m. | Creative Discovery Museum | $20+ | Adults 21 and over can explore with a drink in their hands + cowboy boots on their feet. 🍺
Chattanooga State Community College is counting down to the Fall 2021 semester + celebrating its shift to the 7-week class format.
DYK? This innovative class format allows students to finish their degrees more efficiently and on time. By breaking the standard 15-week semester into 2 sessions, students juggle fewer classes at once. Think: If you’d normally take 5 classes in a 15-week semester, you’d take 3 classes the first 7 weeks and 2 classes the next 7 weeks (or vice-versa).
ChattState’s 7-week class format can help students, including those in the TN Reconnect program, get ahead | Photo provided
National data — as well as Chattanooga State’s own — supports this format’s success, as 10-15% of students are more likely to finish classes during a 7-week session than they are in a 15-week session.
This format can be especially helpful for TN Reconnect students over the age of 24, many of whom are also balancing school with jobs, families, and other responsibilities. The Reconnect program has allowed the number of adult students at ChattState to climb, offering more opportunities for Noogans to achieve their educational goals. Ⓟ
Weather
- 97° | Sunny | 8% chance of rain ☀️
Civic
- Mayor Tim Kelly’s next open office hours will take place on July 30 at the Hixson Community Center from 2-5 p.m. These recurring office hours launched in June + will take place again next month on Aug. 26.
Biz
- TVFCU announced the 23 quarter finalists for the 2021 Idea Leap Grant. A panel of judges will now narrow the pool down to the top 10, and those entrepreneurs will pitch at Startup Week — those presentations will determine the final 5 winners.
- The White Oak Bicycle Co-Op — a volunteer-run, nonprofit in Red Bank — recently received a $10,000 grant from the Trust for Public Land’s Equitable Communities Fund. White Oak aims to use the funding to continue its mission of providing free access to bicycles + repairs to those in need. 🚲
ComingSoon
- 2 Montessori schools are opening for the upcoming school year — Montessori Elementary at Highland Park + Scenic City Montessori in Hixson. Montessori Elementary will open its doors to 215 students, and Scenic City Montessori will continue Montessori education into middle and high school with a starting class of ~30 students. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Job
- The City of Chattanooga is hiring. Open positions range from Administrator of City Planning and Construction Inspector to Community Forward Schools Coordinator. Nearly 30 positions are open for applications.
Coronavirus
- Yesterday, Mayor Tim Kelly ordered the closure of all Chattanooga community centers after summer camp concludes on Friday. Mayor Kelly ordered that they remain closed until the city’s vaccination rate reaches 70%, or until the outbreak reverses trend and declines. You can find where + when to get vaccinated locally online.
Community
- Thrive Regional Partnership’s Freight Forum: The State of Truck Parking is happening on Aug. 10. The forum will feature a discussion on the state of truck parking in the Chattanooga region + a presentation from the American Trucking Research Institute about addressing the challenge. 🚛
DYK
- It’s almost Tax-Free Weekend in Tennessee. Hamilton Place and Northgate Malls are celebrating with the annual back-to-school Tax-Free Weekend from July 30-Aug. 1. Starting this Friday, there will be promotional deals on electronics, school supplies + more. Tennessee also offers a tax-free week for food from July 30-Aug. 5. 🧾
Cause
- A joint fundraiser from Kids Art Box + Reach One Teach One Uca sent 50 students to Six Flags in Atlanta. The fish fry fundraiser for children in underserved communities raised $2,000 on July 17. (Chattanoogan.com)
TryThis
- Outdoor Chattanooga is offering free Kayak Polo sessions every Tuesday in August + September from 6-7:30 p.m. Kayak Polo is a competitive game that combines water polo with kayaking — it’s best for moderately experienced paddlers. 🤽
Dish
- Nashville-based Porter Road Butcher ships craft meat to doorsteps nationwide. They work with local farmers to humanely pasture-raise animals — with no added hormones or antibiotics. Offering quality brats, steaks, dry-aged hotdogs, Italian sausage + more, Porter Road is also offering readers 15% off their first order (automatically applied in checkout). Ⓟ
Shop
- Public Goods has all the premium essentials you need in one place. They search high and low for clean, sustainable products, and you can get them all in one streamlined look. Take $15 off your first order with code 6AM, no minimum purchase required. Ⓟ
Listen up, dog lovers — Southeastern Guide Dogs is looking for local volunteer puppy raisers, and yeah, it’s as cute as it sounds.
Puppy raisers take young dogs into their homes to teach them house manners + basic skills before the pups become guide or service dogs. Talk about a win-win volunteer opportunity. 🐶
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Answered: After dropping the deets on what to expect ahead of the former Songbirds Museum’s reopening in September, we asked what you guys are excited to see in the revamped space. Here’s how the votes shook out:
47.9% | The Songbirds Rising series
41.7% | The exhibits about music history + musicians
6.3% | The interactive elements + artwork
>1% | The classes
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