NPP Responds to Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute relocation
National Park Partners of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Moccasin Bend celebrate today's announcement of a new location for the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute. We are grateful to Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Marie Williams for their commitment to relocating this important facility, built decades prior to the creation of the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. We appreciate the efforts of our Hamilton County legislative delegation to balance the significant workforce benefits a local hospital provides with the need to protect this landscape containing Chattanooga's 12,000-year history. We thank Mayor Tim Kelly and Mayor Weston Wamp for their roles in achieving this win-win outcome that will benefit Chattanooga and Hamilton County for generations to come.
The results of archaeological studies recommended by the Moccasin Bend Task Force in the 1980's launched the first Save the Bend movement to protect the Indigenous resources on Moccasin Bend threatened by development and looting. The nonprofit Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park was established in 1995 and achieved that preservation goal when the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act passed in 2003. With the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park now under the banner of National Park Partners, we share our joy with countless partners, donors, board members, volunteers, and staff whose dedication and support throughout the years make days like today possible. We are thankful for our relationships with nearly two dozen federally-recognized American Indian Tribes whose ancestral ties form the foundation of Chattanooga's story. We salute our board member Emeritus, former Congressman Zach Wamp, who authored the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act and worked tirelessly to pass the legislation. We remember the late Shelley Andrews, Major McCullough, and Troy Wayne Poteete, whose dedication to preserving and promoting Moccasin Bend's cultural legacy lives on through National Park Partners.
Today marks a major milestone in realizing the decades-long community vision of a world class National Park site on Moccasin Bend. We thank the State of Tennessee for fulfilling their commitment to relocate the nonconforming uses on Moccasin Bend's culturally significant landscape, as agreed upon by city, county, and state government entities during the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District Act negotiations. We look forward to continuing to work with all of our public and private partners to complete the promise of a fully interpreted, historic and cultural asset for residents and visitors to enjoy, forever.