Metro Parks seeks community feedback on potential names for new North Nashville park
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro Parks wants your help determining the name of a new park coming to a North Nashville neighborhood.
For over a year, the Metro Parks and Recreation Department has been working on plans for a brand new, 59-acre park located near the intersection of West Trinity Lane and Whites Creek Pike. The first informational meeting was held on May 30, 2024, at the Hartman Regional Community Center with Parks officials and representatives from design team Gresham Smith.
According to documents from the presentation, some possible items that could be included in the park include adult fitness equipment stations, different kinds of playgrounds for children, trailhead signage, restroom screening and access trails.
According to Metro District 2 Councilwoman Kyontze Toombs, the main entrance for the new park will be on Aldrich Lane next to Parkwood Ballpark off Ewing Drive. The southern portion of the park will have a walking entrance from the Trinity Hills neighborhood.
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Toombs told News 2 the original idea of putting a park in that area was actually first broached several years ago, when Habitat for Humanity started establishing its affordable homes. In an agreement with Metro, Habitat was able to purchase some of the land in question with the understanding they would turn 6 acres of it into parkland to be deeded back to Metro.
Metro, in turn, would use those 6 acres plus another 53 acres of city-owned land in the Trinity Hills area into a green space. After several years, those plans are finally coming close to fruition, according to Toombs.
'There's a growing need or desire in the community to have even more green spaces and options to get out and enjoy neighborhoods,' she said. 'Before I got into office there was a desire to keep that space green, because there's creeks there, there's an endangered salamander species that folks want to preserve.'
Keeping the land as a city park not only preserves that endangered salamander species; it also prevents higher-density development in a largely single-family residential neighborhood of Nashville, Toombs added.
'It's mostly a single-family area, and just as the area grows, they're just wanting to preserve as much green space as possible, space that folks can get out and enjoy and not just be surrounded by new construction,' she told News 2.
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While still in the design phase, Metro Parks officials have opened up an opinion survey for potential names of the park.
According to the survey, four names are considered contenders for the new park:
Trinity Hills Park – named for the neighborhood area
Senator Thelma Harper Park – named for the first African-American woman to serve as a state senator in Tennessee and the longest-serving state senator in Tennessee history, who was a resident of the neighborhood
Salamander Park – named for the endangered salamander species that resides in the park area
A. Barbouri Park – named for the specific endangered species of salamander in the area, Ambystoma Barbouri
Neighborhood residents who fill out the survey will be asked to rank those four options in order of preference.
Additionally, they will also have an option to submit an alternative name suggestion. If residents opt to submit an alternative name, they must also include an explanation and/or background information supporting the submission.
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If residents want to submit the name of an individual, they must not be currently living, according to the survey. Any names submitted will be 'thoroughly vetted' by the Metro Parks Board Naming Committee.
The feedback from the survey will be used by Parks officials, and the final name selection will ultimately come from the Naming Committee and voted on by the Metro Parks Board, according to the survey.
'There's a lot of opportunities coming to the area for folks to have a lot of green space to enjoy, to get out and walk, bike, exercise, bring their kids to the playground, have family gatherings—there's going to be plenty of space to do it in,' Toombs told News 2.
Do you have news happening in your neighborhood? Let us know by sending an email to neighborhoodnews@wkrn.com.
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