On Saturday morning I drove over to the Main Street area between Holtzclaw and Dodds avenues in the historic Oak Grove community for the opening of the new Lynnbrook Park.
It is so named because it sits by the short Lynnbrook Avenue.
Before I knew anything about it, I thought it would simply be a playground carved out of a small area and might feature a picnic table and a bench. Or maybe it might also have a touch of grass in a small flat area.
Instead, after hearing about it the day before and then seeing it in person, I learned this park just on the south side of Main Street is bigger than I thought, as it runs down a block for close to 150 yards and is maybe 25 yards wide.
Its official size is 1.4 acres.
And it seemed larger than expected in offerings, too. It looks more like a well-landscaped area at a formal garden or major city attraction than a park found in an almost-inconspicuous neighborhood with modest homes and a few nondescript businesses. Of course, it did have two or three smaller trees with brown leaves likely due to that villain called the drought that had attacked them before the regular rain of the last 10 days or so reappeared.
Despite all its mostly nice aesthetics and handsome appearance complete with a large new play area of about three stations – including some swings and a climbing rope dome -- I learned the park was laid out as much for function as form.
Maria Price from the city of Chattanooga’s Stormwater division said during the dedication that workers took out what was an empty lot with a concrete ditch, and created a meandering stream to better mirror nature. They also planted lots of native plants to help with water purification and flood control.
A gravel path with metal and circular support frames underneath was also put down over much of the oval path to allow rainwater to permeate but keep the gravel in place.
Ms. Price also said all the plantings could help with improving biodiversity in this area that apparently had no attractive qualities beforehand and probably showed no signs a nice park could be made from it, or that proverbial lemonade could be made from lemons.
What also caught my eye during the morning ceremony attended by close to 100 spectators and participants was the diversity of people who were there – blacks, whites and Latinos – in this area that has a variety of residences within a mile or two. Modest homes a century or more old stand next to newer homes surrounding the park, and just a block or so away are the long-popular and historic homes on Eveningside and Morningside drives.
This diverse feel of the community was enhanced by the fact that Grecia Morales from Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, I believe the person was, interpreted each speaker’s comments in detailed Spanish after each talk.
Those interested in ethnic and racial harmony might have found the Saturday morning gathering as appealing in one sense as the attractive new park with water and plants complementing each other was for the outdoors naturalist.
Neighbors could be seen walking to the event in this era when most people still drive everywhere. Perhaps the free hot dogs as part of a back-to-school bash did not hurt as a draw, either!
The whole gathering also seemed to have an underdog feel to it in a good sort of way, as both private people and governmental agencies had worked to help the park successfully come to fruition.
As Amanda Perkins said when speaking on behalf of the Oak Grove community, “The park is not just a place. It’s a testament to what we can achieve when we work together. We are strong, willing and determined to make Oak Grove a happy community for Chattanooga.”
Ayanna Williams from the National Recreation and Park Association, which had presented the park with an award, also enhanced all these themes. She said that part of the desire was to have a safe and inclusive park where friends and family could gather and discover the wonder of nature.
As Mayor Tim Kelly said in trying to sum up the new place, “This is really what community is all about.”
Along that line, officials also praised the work of neighborhood activist Akosua Cook in continuing to push for the park.
And above all else, everyone seemed to think that it was a nice park. Besides the meandering creek through the middle, and a nice pond area on the north end below a bridge with some neat metal framing, it also has some nice and abundant grass in places. It also has a neat artificial pad surface at the playground, a nice stone frame on the south end, and some small metal sculptures that can be banged on like instruments.
Some magnolia trees also line one edge, and some benches, a covered sign area, a pavilion, and another bridge in the middle also dot the new park.
Despite the old Queen song playing on a loudspeaker with the words, “Nothing really matters,” as the formal program was getting ready to start, this park really does seem to matter to Chattanooga and this neighborhood, I deduced.
The city has actually kept busy in recent days opening five park spaces, and maybe needs to get its oversized ribbon-cutting scissors sharpened being so busy, but this one seemed to catch everyone’s attention.
And that included Mayor Kelly. “This is probably the coolest one I’ve seen in a while,” he said.
Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors administrator Scott Martin also liked it, including in terms of the bigger picture for local parks. As he said in remarks opening the dedication program, but which could have also been used closing it, “This park is really emblematic of what we’re trying to do – bring nature into all our neighborhoods.
“This park is absolutely a statement that no matter where you live in Chattanooga, you’re really no more than a couple of feet from something really wild and really special.”
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