Soccer Fields Threaten Chattanooga Area Redoubts Again ......
Soccer Fields Threaten Chattanooga Area Redoubts Again
June 7, 2002--Officials in Hamilton County, Tennessee, are in a bind. They must decide whether to do an archaeological study on an area where they'd like to build some new soccer fields--but if they do the study, the results will likely forbid the building of anything at all.
Hamilton County and the Redoubt Soccer Association originally were planning a $125 million expansion of the Redoubt Soccer Complex on Bonny Oaks Drive.
In March, county officials received a letter from the Tennessee Historical Commission saying the project will need more review to protect the fort. Because the site is on the National Register of Historic Places, any construction must be reviewed under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Civil War site consists of a fort, Tyner Station, which served as headquarters for Confederate Generals Pat Cleburne and James Longstreet, and surrounding trenches, according to the site's listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the fort the area is surrounded by redoubts, defensive earthworks.
The fort, built in 1862, is the only remaining earthworks out of four that were built in the Tyner area to defend Chattanooga and the East Tennessee Railroad, a lifeline between Knoxville and Atlanta, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press reported.
Later in the war Federal troops, including units under Gen. William T. Sherman , also occupied the area before the battle of Atlanta.
"We're just trying to decide if we go ahead and spend the money on the archaeological and preservation work with no guarantee that we'd be able to construct the fields," said Louis Prosterman, development coordinator with Hamilton County, noting that archaeological studies can cost from $20,000 to more than $500,000.
"Regardless of the cost, any study is not going to guarantee any movement of the project," he said.
The initial indication was that the project would not need archaeological studies. Officials said they have been working for more than a year with both the Tennessee Historical Commission and the National Park Service, which must approve the project.
Scott Schoolfield, director of human services for Hamilton County, said a decision should be made in the next couple months.
"It would be relatively expensive if we do the study," he said. "And if we don't do the study we probably will not go any further."
Originally, the construction project was to come before the Hamilton County Commission for approval as early as May and be completed by the fall, officials said. In the plans, the redoubt would have been protected and eventually made into a park next to the new soccer fields, officials said.
The area in question is located on Bonny Oaks Drive.
