KNOXVILLE, TN — The history books will record that in the spring of 2025 there was an effort to sell the public land of Chilhowee Park. This park sits in the heart of East Knoxville, a Black area of town created by urban removal, which destroyed a community of 2,000 homes, churches, and businesses, forcing the Black community to move from rich cultural neighborhoods into other areas, one of which is the area surrounding Chilhowee Park. The stealth sale attempt raised the ire of the citizens all over Knox County. Over the summer and into the fall, the people fought the attempt to steal the land, attending council meetings to express their anger and desire to stop the sale. The city council heard the cries, withdrew the item from the agenda, and the people won.
During the hard-fought battle, Mayor Kincannon, in an effort to sweeten the deal and push through the sale, made two promises: one was a commitment of ten million dollars over the next five years for park development; the other was to create an advisory group much like the one developed for South Knoxville in years past. On March 24th, the Chilhowee Park Advisory Group, or CPAG, a seventeen-member group hand-picked by the mayor, convened its first meeting. Over two hundred citizens attended the meeting to listen to the newly appointed representatives, look at suggested plans for the park from past studies, and provide input and suggestions of what they, as community members, envision as the future of the park. Denzel Grant, District Six council member, guided the beginning of the meeting, ensuring the community members that their suggestions would be heard.
Many of the community members indicated they will continue to attend the meetings as watchmen on the wall to ensure the park will be developed into an area the people can use on a daily basis. The first desire of the people is to have the padlocks that have locked the public out of the park for decades taken off the gates so the people can enjoy the space like other parks in the city. Following the end of a private contract, Chilhowee Park, the very first park in Knoxville, over 135 years old, will go back under the direction and care of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department in July. The award-winning Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for maintenance and development of ninety-seven parks and 125 miles of greenways. When the department takes back the park, they will be overseeing eighty-one acres of some of the most beautiful public land in East Tennessee. Chilhowee Park has its own lake and, for over one hundred years, has hosted weddings, fairs, festivals, concerts, and trade shows. The people have made their desires known: they want that kind of park life back.
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