Friends of the Park
P.O. Box 748
Chattanooga, TN 37401
Phone 423.648.5623
FAX 423.648.5624 Send Us Email
What We Do
1986
A national model for other friends groups, we were one of the first 501(c)(3) charitable organizations ever established to support a National Military Park
1989-90
Planned and produced the Park’s 12-month centennial celebration, including the $1.3 million expansion of its main Visitor Center and addition of a state-of-the-art theater and orientation to the Battle of Chickamauga
1997
Renovated the 85-foot Wilder Brigade Monument, one of the Park’s most beloved icons, raising $300,000 and re-opening the tower to the public after years of closure due to structural damage
2001
Staged the public period festival that opened a Georgia highway bypass designed to help preserve the pastoral quality of Chickamauga Battlefield
2002-present
Partnered with the City of Chattanooga and the National Park Service to restore and protect one of the last remaining viewsheds of the Chattanooga Battlefield at Missionary Ridge and replace tablets and markers displaced by freeway construction on the Ridge in the 1960s
2005
With corporate partners and the National Park Foundation, redesigned and relaunched the Junior Ranger program for children of families visiting the Park
2007-present
Facilitated a $150,000, three-year philanthropic partnership to provide a salary for the Park’s first-ever Volunteer Coordinator and help establish a well-managed, effective volunteer program for the Park
2009
Funded a $45,000 original local film to complement Ken Burns’ PBS series on America’s National Parks. The film, From Lookout Mountain To The Valley Below, aired locally with the Burns series and now lives on in the Park Visitor Centers and as outreach to schools and civic groups
2009-2011
With the Trust for Public Land and the American Battlefield Protection Program in grant programs totaling $80,000, have added an 1863 Civil War history layer to Chattanooga’s GIS database and are educating planners, developers and local government about the new preservation tool and the public benefits of battlefield preservation in Chattanooga
2010
With initial funding to be paid over five years, established the Thomas W. Jewell Memorial Restoration Fund to help the Park with its estimated $18 million restoration backlog toward preservation of the 120 year-old historic monuments, structures and landscapes that grace its 9,100 acres
2010-2013
Working with Park staff, community members and donors, working on three legacy restoration gifts and public programming that will commemorate the 2013 sesquicentennial of the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battles for Chattanooga
Last Updated Thursday, September 16 2010 @ 04:02 PM EDT
