Meeting Notes: June 2024 Fort Negley Park Redevelopme

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Date: June 2024

Presenter: Richie Jones from HDL Lake (architectural/engineering firm)

Key Points:

• Fort Negley is undergoing a major redevelopment project

• Total project budget: $45-55 million

• Phase 1 budget: $12 million

• Timeline:

• Design completion: Next 5 months

• Bidding: Around December 2024/January 2025

• Groundbreaking: Spring 2025

Project Overview:

• Goal: Create an open-air museum of national significance

• Extensive community engagement conducted (41+ stakeholder meetings, 3 public meetings)

• Master plan focuses on preserving history, revealing untold stories, and connecting with community

• Key elements:

1. New Bass Street Plaza to interpret historic neighborhood

2. ADA accessible pathways to fort

3. Memorial wall

4. Reinterpreted fort interior

5. New visitor/interpretive center (future phase)

6. Memorial lawn

7. Adventure playground

8. Improved connections to surrounding areas

Phase 1 Priorities:

• Bass Street Plaza (with archaeological work)

• Memorial lawn

• New park entry/"Freedom Plaza"

• Fort reinterpretation

• New lighting for fort

Next Steps:

• Another public meeting planned for late August/early September 2024

• Fundraising efforts underway to supplement public funding

Questions/Discussion:

• Parking plans

• Connections to nearby sites (Adventure Science Center, City Cemetery)

• Accessibility improvements

• Programming opportunities

The presenter emphasized the historical and cultural significance of Fort Negley, describing it as potentially one of the most important cultural landscapes in the southeast or nation.