Rep. Zach Wamp said "time is of the essence" in securing the land transfers for the Moccasin Bend National Park unit.

Rep. Wamp said he secured $500,000 for bank stabilization at Moccasin Bend, but he said the money can't be used until all the park land is in federal hands.

He was among officials gathered Wednesday morning to announce that the Serodino tract on Moccasin Bend has been acquired and will be used for the site for an interpretive center for the new Moccasin Bend unit of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

Rep. Wamp noted that earlier the 97-acre Rock-Tenn tract was secured for the park unit.

But he said transfers have not yet taken place of 424 acres owned by the city and county and 246 acres owned by the state.

The Serodino site consists of 10.5 acres of undeveloped land along the Tennessee River immediately across the river from the city's central business district.

The site also includes 204 feet of river frontage that will be used for a water taxi along the city's redeveloped riverfront.

The Trust for Public Land has had the responsibility of securing the privately owned land for inclusion in this new unit of the local National Park.

The first tract conveyed into NPS ownership for the new unit was the Rock-Tenn tract, nearly 100 acres of land that is the only undeveloped piece of the "Trail of Tears" route through the city.

The federal government is paying $1,155,000 for the Serodino tract. Owner Pete Serodino will keep his office on a hill above the property as well as a section on the river for barges.

Projected cost of the interpretive center is $30 million. Pat Reed, superintendent of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, said private funding will play a large part.

The Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park recently set up offices at the IMAX building.

Bobby Davenport of the Trust for Public Land said a new road will be built through the Serodino property leading through a gap to the main Moccasin Bend road, while bypassing the sewage treatment plant.

He said, "What is going to happen here will just blow you away."

Mr. Davenport said, "Getting an 880-acre national park added right near downtown doesn't happen very often. You certainly won't find it in Atlanta."

Rep. Wamp called the Serodino tract "the linchpin" of the park.

He said, "It's a thrill of a lifetime to be involved in something that will leave a generational legacy and is bigger than us."

Rep. Wamp said, "This very special land had to be preserved."

Mickey Robbins of Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park said the effort to set aside the park dates back to the 1920s and Adolph Ochs. The current effort began in 1995.

Pete Serodino, left, with Shelley Andrews, Dan Saieed and Mickey Robbins.
- Photo2 by John Wilson