CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) — Mayor Joe Bates promised some major improvements to public spaces during the 2022 Clarksville Area Room of Commerce Room Mayors’ Power Breakfast Tuesday.
“Just like we did with our transportation plan, we want to make a focused effort to expand new parks, green roads, and green spaces throughout our city,” Bates said. “The pandemic has taught us that people depend on outdoor spaces to get out and improve quality of life.”
The city will ask for public input to see these projects.
He also announced some upcoming improvements to the park’s acreage, including an expansion of Dixon Park and a renovation of L&N Train Depot, Fort Defiance and Smith-Trahern Mansion.
Bates gave his speech this year via a Zoom call from his home, because he had been ill recently and was unable to attend.
He also provided updates on some of the major ongoing projects:
Performing Arts Center: In 2021, the city purchased the Roxy Regional Theater to build a new performing arts center. Bates said the city is now conducting economic and architectural studies “to get it right.” He also said in prepared comments that a theater team was coming in from New York to assist with the studies and to help the city put together an “accurate picture” of the project.
Frosty Morne: The city is still contemplating how to turn the abandoned factory into a community property. Some of the proposed uses include a market for local farmers and a community dining space for food trucks or start-up restaurants.
While the vision is for something the entire city can enjoy, Bates said, the plan is to make sure it will benefit the nearby Red River community.
“We are strictly focused on helping those neighborhoods, (to provide) workplaces for young people, places to sell food and handicrafts, public spaces, event venues, restaurants, and places where they can start businesses,” he said.
Clarksville won a place in Mayor’s Innovation Design Cohort group, which will help the city develop Frosty Morn as an equitable and inclusive public space. The next step, Bates said, is to do a market study, estimate the structural engineering, and make an adjustment to the budget.
parking: The City Hall Parking Meeting will be held February 2 in Roxy, where Michael Palmor, Director of Parking, will discuss upcoming downtown parking changes and ideas. A long-discussed project to build a new parking garage in the city center is still in the works between the city and county.
“For now, we’re still gathering proposals,” Bates said in prepared comments.
Bates also discussed the city’s achievements during 2021, and touched on Transportation Plan 20220+; Opening of the North Clarksville Service Center; approval of the North Clarksville Water Treatment Plant, which Bates called “the most important public works project in the history of the city of Clarksville”; and partnering with Silicon Ranch to build a solar farm at the upcoming sports complex.
At the sports complex, work on the road to the park should begin soon, Bates said, after which crews will begin working in the fields.
For more information, see the City’s 2021 Annual Report on the City of Clarksville website.