Blog: City Blog

Stonework Laid at Fort Dickerson Gateway Park

For perhaps the first time since the Civil War era, stone is getting laid this week for a structural wall at Fort Dickerson. (Granted, this time it’s a stone veneer wall).

Construction for Fort Dickerson Gateway Park, a partnership effort between the City of Knoxville and the Aslan Foundation, has been underway since last September and the stonework is the first sign of finishing touches.

Fort Dickerson Gateway Park construction

Fort Dickerson Gateway Park construction

The three-story retaining wall was built to accommodate the Fort Dickerson Road Realignment project, completed in 2015. This effort aligned Fort Dickerson Park’s Chapman Highway entrance with Woodlawn Pike and gave it a much-needed traffic light, thus increasing the visibility of a park that was previously difficult to locate.

The Aslan Foundation stepped forward to purchase a lot adjacent to the entrance, formerly G&R Automotive, and funded the large majority of the $800,000 park development.

A public meeting was held February 2016. Read more about the public meeting HERE.

Fort Dickerson Gateway Park rendering

Designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates, the park's amenities will include twin stone pillars towering at 15 feet that will frame the park’s entrance, a grassy lawn surrounded by a circular stone bench, a covered Knoxville Area Transit bus stop, and accessible sidewalks.

The City contracted Hickory Construction to build the park. Completion of Fort Dickerson Gateway Park is slated for spring 2017.

Posted by On 12 January, 2017 at 4:56 PM