The American flag flies high against a cloud-filled blue sky atop the newly-opened Bass Pro Outpost in East Ridge. The city's newest retailer celebrated with a ribbon-cutting and other activities Wednesday evening.
photo by Dennis Norwood
After waiting for months with eager anticipation, Chattanooga-area sportsmen were rewarded with an evening of entertainment, autographs and shopping Wednesday evening at the newly christened Bass Pro Outpost, located off Exit One on I-75 in East Ridge.
The event kicked off with emcee Jimmy Houston, renowned fisherman and host of the “Jimmy Houston Outdoors” television show, making introductions and offering a prayer that included asking for the safety of police officers and military members.
Local recording star James Rogers sang the National Anthem with “Osceola” a once-injured bald eagle with only one wing sharing the stage in all his majestic glory.
Along with Houston, others here for the opening were legendary University of Tennessee player and head coach Johnny Majors and former Vols' quarterback Erik Ainge; Richard Childress president of Richard Childress Racing and Ty Dillon, driver of NASCAR’s Bass Pro Shops' #3 Chevrolet; and outdoors personalities Brittney Glaze, Edwin Evers, Walter Parrott, Brenda Valentine and Rob Keck.
Among the local dignitaries attending were State Senator Todd Gardenhire, county mayor Jim Coppinger, East Ridge mayor Brent Lambert, county assessor Bill Bennett, East Ridge councilman Denny Manning, and Hamilton County trustee Bill Hullander. Local entrepreneur John "Thunder" Thornton was also present.
Mayor Lambert said, of the city’s newest retailer, “It took a tremendous amount of cooperation and teamwork to get this done. It will be, by far, the greatest generator of tax dollars we’ve seen in East Ridge and will be a catalyst for other new business.”
“It has been remarkable to see this project go from start to finish,” he continued. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for East Ridge. This moves us to a different level and represents a new day for East Ridge.“
According to Mayor Lambert, the next big thing on the radar screen for the city is a new design for Exit One off of Interstate-75.
The mayor said, “If people only knew the on-going conversations, they would be amazed.” The new exit design will allow traffic to directly access Camp Jordan Parkway directly from the off-ramp. Per the mayor, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is putting up one million dollars toward this project, along with $500K from Hamilton County. According to Mayor Coppinger, this is in addition to the half-million dollars already given for Camp Jordan Parkway improvements.
Asked if he would be making any purchases that evening, the mayor replied that ‘he just might buy a new pair of pants.”
As for any competition between his city and Catoosa County, location of Bass Pro competitor, Cabelas, Mayor Lambert said he hadn’t see any direct competition and that hopefully the presence of the two outdoors giants would lift the economic future for the entire area.
Bristol Motor Speedway general manager Jerry Caldwell was in attendance and spoke with the media about the upcoming Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol football game coming up this September 16th between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. According to Caldwell this game has been in the works for twenty years.
The track has installed the world’s largest suspended video board to enable spectators to get an eagle-eye view of the action. The video screen, called Colossus contains four massive high-resolution screens and 428-speaker sound system. Caldwell said that the screen debuted on April 17, 2016.
He also told the gathered reporters, “It will take three weeks to prepare the infield as a football field as we have to raise the infield three and a half feet, install bleachers and then install the Astroturf playing surface.” Asked about ticket availability, Caldwell said, “All of the general seating tickets have been sold, but there are still some premium tickets available.”
Following the speakers, which included Bass Pro Shops founder, Johnny Morris, the ceremonial ribbon was cut and thousands of customers flooded through the doors to take advantage of numerous sales, giveaways, autograph opportunities and to see for the first-time the inside of the 84,700 square foot retail experience.
As part of the opening night programs, fifty cents of every dollar spent will go to benefit nonprofit conservation organizations.
The store offers more than 50,000 outdoor-related products and gifts. Among its unique features is an immersive design that reflects local wildlife habitats. The artwork inside the store is all handmade or drawn and painted by hand by artists who came to East Ridge from all over the country.
At the center of the new store is its 12,000-gallon freshwater aquarium, set in mountainous Tennessee terrain and surrounded by realistic foliage and full-sized wildlife mounts including black bear, white-tailed deer, elk and mountain lion. The aquarium features native fish such as largemouth bass, striped bass, white bass and hybrid striped bass, black/white crappie, catfish and trout. A number of the fish were caught in and transferred from Chickamauga Lake.
Jarron Ritchie is the store’s general manager and regular store hours will be Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Boat and ATV sales will be Monday–Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., while Power Pros Boat and ATV Service will be open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.The store is located at 1000 Bass Pro Drive, just off of Camp Jordan Parkway.
Contact Dennis Norwood at sportsshooter614@gmail.com; follow him on Twitter at @DennisENorwood.
Getting ready to sign autographs for those attending the Bass Pro Outpost grand opening are, left to right, former Tennessee player and head coach Johnny Majors, outdoors television host Jimmy Houston, and former Vols' quarterback Erik Ainge.
photo by Dennis Norwood