City of Knoxville, Emerald Youth reveal updated plans for Chilhowee Park after pushback

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – After weeks of controversy, the City of Knoxville and the Emerald Youth Foundation have released a revised plan for the sale of a portion of Chilhowee Park in East Knoxville. The city and foundation say the updates help the plan become more in-line with what the East Knoxville community has demanded of the sale.

Previous Coverage: Dozens voice frustrations with Knoxville’s future Chilhowee Park plans

The deal itself has been in talks in one fashion or another for the last two years, when it was proposed that Emerald Youth would invest millions into building a community complex, including indoor and outdoor sports fields, green spaces and more. It wasn’t until the sale grew closer, however, that the surrounding community began to voice concerns about what faith-based outreach group Emerald Youth’s plan would look like. Now, we know some of the key updates.

According to an announcement from the city, the plan is changing in five ways:

• Emerald Youth is now committing to a 40-year restriction period. It means the space must be used as a community complex for another 20 years, compared to the first plan.
• In line with that, the right of first refusal agreement between the city and Emerald Youth has been extended to 40 years.
• The two parties have also committed to a perpetuity restriction for the sports fields. It means those spaces would be reserved for recreation forever, instead of the original 20 years.
• A formal commitment to keep as many mature trees as possible. Emerald Youth said this was always the plan, but has now put it into writing.
• A written commitment guaranteeing the space will be accessible by the community at large, including a green space.

The idea was prompted in part by the success of a similar complex in the Lonsdale area — the Haslam-Sansom Ministry Complex. That initiative saw almost 1,000 young people last year alone, Emerald Youth claims. That engagement with young people was a driving force behind the city’s decision to entertain the group’s proposition to buy the land.

“This is an investment in our children,” said Mayor Indya Kincannon. ”We vowed in 2021 —when our city was seeing a spike in deadly shootings– to look for more ways to engage our youth. This opportunity will have a positive and lasting impact for generations to come. I also want the community to know that we heard your suggestions and concerns, loud and clear. That is why the City is making some commitments beyond the contract with Emerald.”

Those commitments beyond the contract are two-fold:

• The city pans to commit $10 million for improvements to the north side of Chilhowee Park, on top of the investments from Muse and Zoo Knoxville. It mirror’s the city’s investment in Bearden’s Lakeshore Park: $2 million a year for five years.
• The formation of an East Knoxville Advisory Group. They city hasn’t given any details on the group, but has said it will mirror the South Waterfront project’s group.

The above changes and additions are the product of six weeks of back-and-forth between the city and those in East Knoxville. Opponents to the sale had flagged a lack of transparency and community input, something the mayor agreed with, at least in part, while appearing on WVLT.

Previous Coverage: Knoxville mayor says Chilhowee Park sale pushback surprised her, changes coming to plan

As it stands, Emerald Youth has offered to buy the property for $913,518.

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