Bredesen Awards More than $1.9 Million in Parks and Recreation Grants

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke today announced more than $1.9 million in Recreational Trail Program grants will be awarded to recipients across Tennessee.

 

“These grants help local governments and organizations enhance or expand community assets like trails, greenways and recreational facilities,” said Bredesen. “I’m extremely pleased this year’s grant awards will allow us to help 29 community projects become a reality across Tennessee.”

 

The Recreational Trails Program is a federally funded program established to distribute funding for motorized, non-motorized and diverse recreation trail projects. The funds are available to federal, state and local government agencies, as well as non-profit organizations that have obtained IRS 501(c)(3) status and have a written trail management agreement with the agency that owns the property where the trail project is located. 

 

Recreational Trails Program grants may be used for non-routine maintenance and restoration of existing trails, development and rehabilitation, trailside or trailhead facilities such as restrooms, kiosks and parking lots, construction of new trails and land acquisition for recreational trails or corridors. 

 

“These awards will help fund some very exciting projects,” said Fyke. “From the development of new greenways and trails to more ADA-compliant facilities – these projects will make a variety of recreational opportunities accessible to Tennesseans.” 

 

Funding for RTP grants is provided by the Federal Highway Administration through the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act. The Department of Environment and Conservation administers this grant program for the state of Tennessee. The maximum federal share for each project is 80 percent, with RTP grant recipients providing a 20 percent match. 

 

Grant recipients were selected through a scoring process with careful consideration given to the projects that met the selection criteria and expressed the greatest local recreation need.

 

To learn more about the RTP grant program and other recreation or conservation-based grant programs available in the future, please visit http://tn.gov/environment/recreation/grants.shtml. For more information about the RTP grant program, contact Gerald Parish at (615) 532-0538 or Gerald.Parish@tn.gov. A complete list of the grants awards announced today follows.  

 

County * = multi-county	Name of the Recipient Organization	Grant Amount	Brief Project Description
*Bledsoe *Van Buren	Fall Creek Falls State Park	$80,000	Construction of a one-mile, paved multi-use trail, including architectural engineering services.
Carroll	City of McKenzie	$38,500	McKenzie Recreation Park – Construction of walking/biking trail and an ADA-compliant trailhead parking area.
Cheatham	Harpeth River State Park	$48,000	Improve access to Blueway Trail of the Harpeth River, including existing site footing, stream bank restoration and ramp construction to provide access for paddling boats.
*Cocke *Greene *Washington *Unicoi	Cherokee National Forest	$80,000	Purchase a Sutter 500 Trail Dozier to restore and maintain over 50 miles of designated equestrian and ATV trails in the Cherokee National Forest, Nolichucky/Unaka Ranger District.
Coffee	City of Manchester	$80,000	Extend Little Duck River Greenway from its present trailhead at Hwy 41 to Old Stone Fort State Park.
Davidson	Metropolitan Government of Nashville / Davidson County	$72,547	Shelby Bottoms Greenway and Nature Park - Construct Riverside Drive connector trail.
Dyer	Dyer County	$80,000	Dyersburg River Park and Blueway - Create a floating boat dock/launch, restroom/shower facility, interpretive signage and a short walking trail from the restroom facility to the boat dock.
Franklin	City of Winchester	$20,000	Tims Ford Reservoir Blueway - Develop linear / base camp routes, connecting Winchester City Park, Estill Springs and Tims Ford State Park.
Hamilton	Cumberland Trail Conference	$67,400	Cumberland Trail - Construction of bridge spanning Big Soddy Creek.
Hardin	City of Crump	$80,000	Crump Municipal Park - Site prep and construction for a paved, ADA-accessible trail.
Haywood	Haywood County	$80,000	Haywood County Industrial Park – Construction of a bridge and asphalt greenway.
Henry	City of Paris	$30,000	Memorial Park – To widen fitness trail from four to eight feet, repave and construct additional access points.
Houston	Houston County	$80,000	Danville Landing Recreation Area – Construction of a one-mile trail, ADA-accessible trailhead and restroom facility.
Knox	Appalachian Mountain Bike Club	$55,930	Ijams Nature Park - Construct six miles of non-motorized single-track natural surface trails as part of the Georgia Marble Trail System, consisting of wooden boardwalks and informational signage and kiosk.
Knox	City of Knoxville and Knox County	$80,000	Development of the Bearden Circle Greenway.
Knox	Knox County	$80,000	Plumb Creek Park – Construction of an ADA compliant paved greenway loop, including a trailhead with parking.
Madison	City of Jackson	$80,000	Liberty Garden – Construction of an ADA-compliant restroom and footbridge.
McMinn	City of Athens and McMinn County	$80,000	McMinn County Rails-to-Trails Project Greenway – For acquisition of approximately 25.6 acres.
McNairy	Big Hill Pond State Park	$80,000	Renovate observation tower and Dismal Swamp boardwalk, in addition to removal of excess vegetation.
Montgomery	City of Clarksville	$43,040	To purchase various mechanized trail equipment.
Obion	City of Hornbeak	$40,000	Hornbeak City Park - Widen existing trail from five to six feet, in addition to paving the existing parking area.
Polk	City of Ducktown	$65,000	Ducktown Greenway - Construction of an ADA-compliant trailhead parking lot and multi-purpose trail.
Robertson	Town of Ridgetop	$80,000	Ridgetop Station Park - To construct an asphalt trail and trailhead facility, in addition to an ADA- accessible parking area.
Rutherford	City of Murfreesboro	$80,000	Replace decking and rail of the Stones River Bridge, repair trail, replace map signage and fencing.
Shelby	Shelby Farms Park Conservancy	$80,000	Shelby Farms Park – Construction of a paved, multi-use connector trail.
Sullivan	City of Kingsport	$80,000	Domtar Park – Construct an 8-foot-wide paved trail.
White	White County	$26,000	Quebec Community Center - Construct a paved recreational trail, including covered trailhead kiosk, benches and signs.
Williamson	Williamson County	$76,700	Timberland Park - Construct an ADA-accessible trail, including benches and signage.
Wilson	City of Lebanon	$80,000	Cedar City Trail – Continued trail development.