Editorial
Front Page - Friday, August 28, 2009
Outdoor Chattanooga sets sights on becoming outdoor hub in the city
David Laprad
Children learn at an early age that it’s a joy to be outside. The space beyond their front door provides an unlimited canvas for fun and games. But adults spend most of their time indoors, primarily because that’s where most of them work. Outdoor Chattanooga wants them to get more fresh air.
The city government department doesn’t exist just to promote a healthier lifestyle, though; events coordinator Ruth Thompson says Outdoor Chattanooga also has a role in protecting the city’s environment and improving its
economy.
“Our mission is to promote outdoor recreation as a signature lifestyle in Chattanooga,” she says. “That involves hosting activities that get people outdoors. And when you introduce someone to mountain biking or backcountry hiking, and they turn out to be enthusiastic about it, they become stewards of the environment in which they play.”
They also become “gear heads,” says Thompson, buying the stuff they need to participate in the activity and stimulating the local economy. This in turn attracts like-minded people from outside the region.
In Chattanooga, this snowball effect has produced a thriving outdoors industry. The fact that
people who begin playing outside tend to get in better shape as a result is the organic cherry on top of the fat-free cake.
“Doing things outdoors will change your life,” says Thompson. “You might be a couch potato, but if you start kayaking, you’ll lose 20 pounds without thinking about it and get addicted to something healthy.”
Outdoor Chattanooga also serves as a marketing arm for attracting tourists to the area, and the department co-hosts events that bring outdoor enthusiasts to the region, such as the Head of the Hooch Regatta and the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon.
Thompson and the rest of the Outdoor Chattanooga staff are thrilled they can now manage all of these activities from inside their new North Shore facility, which houses their offices and serves as both an activity center and an information resource for business owners and residents thinking about moving to the area.
“Outdoor Chattanooga got started in 2003 when Mayor Bob Corker met with a number of outdoor enthusiasts in the community to talk about exploiting all of the cool stuff in this area,” Thompson says. “Our mission statement had us moving into a facility as part of our growth.”
Once a Web site (www.outdoorchattanooga.com) was up and running, Outdoor Chattanooga began looking for a home.
“This building started off as an annex to an old golf club manufacturing facility,” says Thompson. “And after the golf club facility was torn down, it stood derelict for a long time.”
In 2006, a private developer was going to purchase the land on which the building sat and build a high-rise hotel, but the locals on the North Shore didn’t want their view ruined, so Mayor Ron Littlefield orchestrated a land swap between the developer and Outdoor Chattanooga, which was originally going to be part of Renaissance Park.
“Last year, we finally got the money to build this place out,” Thompson says. “At the same time, The Lyndhurst Foundation funded an initiative to promote green building in Chattanooga. They gave us a grant to cover the cost of upgrading this building so it would be green.”
Outdoor Chattanooga is going for Silver LEED Certification, and appears to be well on its way. Joggers crossing the Market Street Bridge can look down at the cinderblock building, located behind Mudpie Restaurant, and see large patches of sedum, a native, drought-resistant plant, growing on the roof of the building. This provides insulation against the hot sun, as does the trumpet creeper growing on the front and eastern sides of the building.
An 8,000-gallon cistern collects storm water, which Outdoor Chattanooga uses to flush its toilets and feed its hose bibs.
And inside, sunlight pours in through a raised roof, filling the large central hall with natural illumination. Thompson says the small staff of three rarely turns on the lights.
With its Web site and headquarters now in place, Thompson says Outdoor Chattanooga is primed to become the hub for outdoor activity in the area. Several groups use the building for its meetings, including the Chattanooga Hiking Club and the Ornithological Society, and Thompson is looking forward to when there’s something going on at the center every day.
“It’ll take us a couple of years to get to that point, but it’s the next phase of our development,” she says. “In the meantime, we’re going to keep plunking people outside.”
Visit www.outdoorchattanooga.com for more information, including details on the Tennessee River Blueway Canoe & Kayak Race, scheduled to take place September 26. The event will take both serious racers and beginners down a 50-mile channel stretching from Chickamauga Dam to Nickajack Dam. Portions of the race will pass through a gorge in which cliffs tower 1,500 feet above the water.
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