Residents of Lincoln Park issued a statement in opposition to moving Moccasin Bend Mental Health Hospital near Erlanger Hospital.
Lincoln Park is an historic neighborhood next to Erlanger.
State officials said they have ruled out a large site off Tunnel Boulevard, leaving a location near Erlanger and another by Amnicola Highway. Earlier, officials were looking at wooded property at Amnicola Highway and Highway 153 across from Lake Junior for a shooting range, but that never came through.
The Lincoln Park statement says:
From the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association
June 6, 2025
Re: Proposed Site for New State Mental Health Facility – A Call for Transparency, Equity, and Respect for Historic Communities
The Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association issues this public statement in response to recent reports that two potential sites have been identified for a new state mental health facility—one along Amnicola Highway and another broadly described as “north of Erlanger.”
Let us be clear: we fully support expanded mental and behavioral health services for Tennesseans in need.
Accessible, community-based care is essential to a just and humane society.
However, our greatest responsibility is to protect the future, integrity, and legacy of our community. If Lincoln Park—or any part of Chattanooga’s historic Black neighborhoods—is being considered as a site, it is unacceptable and deeply disrespectful for such decisions to be made without directly engaging the people who live here.
We are not just any neighborhood. Lincoln Park is one of Chattanooga’s few remaining historically African American communities, home to generations of families, faith institutions, and cultural landmarks. This is a neighborhood that has already endured the compounded damage of redlining, urban renewal, the interstate highway system, and now, the creeping pressures of gentrification. These forces were not accidents, nor are they ancient history. They were deliberate choices made without our consent, and at our expense.
We’ve seen the pattern: Black communities across America, and here in Chattanooga, have been repeatedly sacrificed in the name of “progress.” We will not allow Lincoln Park to become another casualty of that legacy.
Much of this area has already been recognized as historically significant by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. It is a cultural landscape. Any encroachment or repurposing of this community must be approached with the highest standard of public accountability and care.
Therefore, we are calling for the following:
Immediate public disclosure of all neighborhoods and properties under consideration for the new state mental health hospital.
A public meeting—with representatives from the State of Tennessee, local government, and mental health agencies—to explain the criteria for site selection, assess the impacts, and allow community members to ask questions and voice concerns.
A written commitment from policymakers that any decision involving historically marginalized communities will be made transparently, with meaningful community input, and only after full historic, social, and environmental impact studies.
That no state or local agency proceed with any plan that would repeat the damaging patterns of displacement, gentrification, or cultural erasure that have already decimated African American communities in Chattanooga and beyond.
We are not opposed to healing. But true healing must begin with justice—with decisions made with communities, not imposed upon them.
We call on Tennessee State elected officials, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, and our local elected officials to uphold their responsibilities to Chattanooga’s residents and history.
You cannot build public health by breaking public trust.
Respectfully,
Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association
Vanice Hughley, President
Tiffany A. Rankins, Secretary