McKee Foods, Collegedale finalizing park partnership
Despite a lack of communication that left some city commissioners feeling in the dark during much of the planning process, McKee Foods and the city of Collegedale are working to break ground on a new park after years of planning.
After seeing updated plans on Feb. 22, most commissioners seemed in favor of moving forward with the project. Some acknowledged that specifics had changed a lot over the years and expressed a desire for more accessible equipment beyond the amount required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as equipment for seniors.
City Manager Ted Rogers, whose team worked with the company on details, presented a version of the preliminary plans to the commission on Jan. 25.
Rogers later faced calls for his resignation or firing, partly driven by a lack of communication about the status of the partnership. He announced his retirement a week later, saying the move was his “voluntary decision, and no one else’s.” He declined to comment on the park and its development for this story.
City Engineer Wayon Hines, who was announced as the interim city manager on March 1, presented an update of the plans
“Seeing that the large grassy parcel next to the commons was undeveloped, it seemed like a perfect place for a park for families to enjoy a variety of activities.”
– MIKE GLOEKLER, SPOKESPERSON FOR MCKEE FOODS
on Feb. 22 to the commission during a workshop.
The park is slated to be built on 10 acres owned by the city behind Collegedale Commons.
Under the partnership, the McKee family’s corporation will be in charge of building and paying for the park up front, while the city will be in charge of maintaining it. The organization declined to disclose how much the park is projected to cost.
“Seeing that the large grassy parcel next to the commons was undeveloped, it seemed like a perfect place for a park for families to enjoy a variety of activities,” Mike Gloekler, spokesperson for the Collegedale-based company, said by email. “The thought behind the park was one of [an] opportunity to preserve nature while enhancing the Collegedale Commons vision.”
During the process, there appears to have been some back and forth between the city and the snack food company as to what to include in the park, as well as its overall purpose.
“The original vision for the park was to be ‘natural,’ with limited structures and a focus on the surrounding natural environment,” Gloekler said. “The city requested some additional assets to enhance community use and functionality, such as restrooms, pavilions, irrigation, additional street parking and a bridge connection to a future parking area.”
Gloekler said plans include a playground with accessibility features for all ages and grassy areas for “impromptu pickup games” and picnics, but that visualizations or renderings were preliminary and not entirely ready to be shared publicly. The partnership has also yet to settle on a name.
“We are lucky to have a donation of this magnitude by the McKee family our community will be able to enjoy [for] years to come,” Vice Mayor Tim Johnson said in an email to the Times Free Press. “We expect families will walk the pathways in the park, kids will play on the playground equipment, climb the climbing wall and enjoy the zip line. Kids and young adults will enjoy the open space to throw balls, kick a soccer ball, throw Frisbees or just roll in the grass. The hope is to improve our community quality of life.”
There also are plans for branded portions of the park including a mural, a sign and large replicas of the company’s snack cakes. McKee would be responsible for any maintenance to these additions.
Commissioner Debbie Baker said she wishes the commission had been included more in the planning process, while she knows the park will be well built and an asset to the city because of McKee’s track record.
“It does meet the state requirement of 5% [of accessible infrastructure], which usually includes ramps and sidewalks and so forth,” she said. “It’s going to be a very, very nice park. The McKees do not do junk. They do their best, and they want the highest caliber. I’m just, my concern for me is that I would like to see more than 5%.”
Hines said during the workshop that while proposals for similar additions have been brought up previously in meetings with McKee, they likely would have to be addressed again as potential add-ons after the park is built as some aspects were not included in the original nature-focused vision set forth by Rusty McKee, the company’s executive vice president of manufacturing.
Rogers said earlier that he and his team had spent a great deal of time working to negotiate specifics in the best interest of the city and its residents.
After her firing for a separate incident, former city parks and recreation director Traci Bennett-Hobek emailed commissioners to tell her side of events that happened surrounding the park’s development, including instances where she felt she was left out of the planning process.
The replicas of the company’s baked goods were also points of concern.
“I do not understand how a ‘healthier Tennessee community’ and a city that prides itself on wellness could put huge, plastic snack cakes in its playground,” she wrote in her email to city commissioners.
Mayor Katie Lamb brought up similar concerns at the workshop.
“I have a little bit of angst about having those Little Debbie snack cakes in there. However, since they put in my Nutty Buddys, maybe I could accept,” she said as others in the room laughed.
Gloekler said the branding aspects are not unlike those that accompany other sponsored deals.
“They [the snack cake replicas] would be part of the equipment used to get the very exercise that the McKee family is so supportive of,” he wrote. “Not unlike our sponsorship of Chattanooga’s Ironman competitions, our snacks have a place in a well-balanced diet that is paired with outdoor activity that gets the body moving.”
Hines also stated that the company’s intentions are not to have the park be an advertising campaign, but to show the history of the family, the company and the local area.
The project will be presented to the city’s planning commission before likely returning to the commissioners for a final vote later in the month. The city still appears to be in discussion about where and how to allocate funding for maintenance of the park, but Lamb said that it wouldn’t result in any raises in taxes under her watch.
If all goes well, Gloekler wrote, hopes are to have a completed project before the end of the year.