Work is set to start June 8 on a reworked plaza near the Walnut Street Bridge as well as the site work for the Ed Johnson Memorial, City Council members were told on Tuesday.
Officials said funding includes $1.3 million from Rivercity Company (mainly from Benwood Foundation and Lyndhurst Foundation funds), $780,000 of city hotel/motel tax funds, and $290,000 raised by the Ed Johnson Committee.
Katelyn Kirnie, who directs city public art, said the sculptor is nearing completion on the art work that will be at the memorial in relation to a Chattanooga citizen who was lynched on the bridge while proclaiming his innocence.
Ms. Kirnie said the memorial will also pay tribute to the two African-American attorneys for Ed Johnson as well as the three others who were lynched on the bridge, which was opened in 1891 and is now a popular walking bridge.
Thomas Brothers Construction is handling the project, which is due to be finished next Feb. 8.
The Ed Johnson Memorial is set to go into place as soon as the site work is finished.
Councilman Jerry Mitchell said it had been "three or four years since I walked from City Hall to the site" for an announcement of the project.