Knoxville reconfigures downtown park to save trees that would have been cut down for new art

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon announced a plan to save all the mature trees except one at downtown's Cradle of Country Music Park after residents voiced concern over the installation of a huge sculpture.

Kincannon said Tuesday the city reconfigured the plan to preserve all of the park's mature trees except one, and the design will include the addition of 14 new trees in the area. Some of the park's new sidewalk space at Gay Street and Summit Hill Drive was eliminated to make room for the trees.

Four parking spaces in the lot adjacent to the park will be eliminated to create new greenspace plus room for six of the 14 new trees. Drivers will only be able to enter the lot from Summit Hill Drive.

“I think it’s going to be a spectacular piece of art and now we can also say that it’s going to preserve the trees here and make this park green, clean and beautiful,” Kincannon said during a press conference Tuesday at the park.

Before Kincannon announced the updated plans, Knoxville City Council members Seema Singh and Amelia Parker brought a resolution forward that would pause the sculpture's installation for six months to find a way to save the willow oak trees in the tiny park.

The resolution was withdrawn by Singh because of the park reconfiguration.

The original plan called for five mature trees to be cut down to accommodate installation.

“There was never any disrespect or disregard for your work,” Singh said to the Public Arts Committee that worked on the park's redesign. “It just seemed like the public process wasn't quite complete until we got to this point, with all the hooting and hollering that the protesters did and as soon as I said we have a better product.”

Council members years ago to commission the sculpture, known as "Pier 865," for the park.

The entire project will cost up to $1.25 million. The sculpture itself cost $500,000. The project received $500,000 from the city's downtown improvement fund and the parks and recreation department, $167,000 from the state and Visit Knoxville, and $83,000 from the Downtown Knoxville Alliance.

Kincannon said the modifications to the park's design wouldn't add to the budget and would help the city "absorb" the cost of inflation.

It will be the city's largest and most expensive piece of contemporary public art once it's completed.

How this resolution sprouted

In the withdrawn resolution, Singh and Parker called out the city's commitments to mitigating climate change, downtown's dwindling tree canopy cover and the negative effects of urban heat islands.

"The existing mature trees in the park are 35-40 years old, and their environmental and social benefits cannot be compensated for within the next 35-40 years by planting saplings," the resolution read.

They suggested pausing the project for six months to modify the plan "to preserve as many of the mature trees in the Cradle of Country Music Park as reasonably possible" with input from the Public Arts Committee, the engineering department, the parks and recreation department and community stakeholders.

A change.org petition has garnered more than 1,100 signatures in support of preserving the trees, and activists attended to show support for the resolution at the City Council.

Becca Wright: Higher education reporter at Knox News
Instagram | Twitter | Email | 865-466-3731
Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism. To get started, visit knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Silas Sloan: Covering growth and development in East Tennessee
Twitter: @silasloan| Email: silas.sloan@knoxnews.com
Support local journalism and enjoy subscriber perks. Visit knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville comes up with plan to save trees at downtown park