Volunteer Landing is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

and riverwalk along the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. It is below the Gay Street Bridge.

History

The location of the park is the site of the

Treaty of Holston The Treaty of Holston (or Treaty of the Holston) was a treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee signed on July 2, 1791, and proclaimed on February 7, 1792. It was negotiated and signed by William Blount, governor of the So ...

. In 1988, a 50-member waterfront

task force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

was created to analyze the waterfront area along the Tennessee River. Per the recommendations of this task force, a three-phase project to develop Volunteer Landing began in 1995 and continued through 1996. Volunteer Landing was completed in September 1997. Upon this completion, Volunteer Landing had a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

, a central

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

and

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

, a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

, and two new public parks. In April 1999, Gateway Regional Visitor Center which highlighted the region's nature and technology was opened. In Spring 2000, the 140-boat slip Volunteer Landing Marina, was completed. The Regas Riverfront Tavern/Restaurant, which seated about 250 people and had a banquet facility with capacity of 300, was also completed in 2000, concluding the waterfront development project. The state and local government contributed $10 million to Volunteer Landing. The marina was funded with about $3 million in private funds and a $100,000

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforce ...

(TWRA) grant. The visitor center was received $5.6 million in federal, state, and local funds. The tavern/restaurant had about $6 million of private funding. The overall cost was $42 million and consisted of both public and private developments. In 2007, the Public Building Authority began to manage Volunteer Landing.

Description

Volunteer Landing has . Two new public parks were built as part of Volunteer Landing. One is called River Mountain Park, and it is west of the central pavilion and demonstrates the region's river and mountain heritage through the landscaping and water features. The second park is at the mouth of First Creek where the city was founded and has exhibits reflecting this history. Volunteer Landing Park is a three-acre linear park connects James White Greenway and Neyland Greenway. They are part of the downtown

greenway Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions * European Greenways Association, an association for sustainable transport Peopl ...

system which is 19 miles long and runs east to west.

Activities

The one-mile walk features several

attractions Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

such as

train ride ''Train Ride'' is a feature thriller film written and directed by Rel Dowdell and Executive Produced by Rich Murray. It was released in 2005 by Murray's RuffNation Films via Sony Entertainment. It revolves around the consequences of an incident ...

s, riverboat cruises,

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s, and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

biking Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

, and

paddling Paddling, in regard to waterborne transport, is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using at least one hand-held paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel via generatin ...

are some available activities. During

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

(UT) home

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games, the Vol Navy lines the river at Volunteer Landing as part of a

tailgating Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly. The safe distance for following another vehicle varies depend ...

tradition. There is also a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

splash pad A splash pad or spray pool is a recreation area, often in a public park, for water play that has little or no standing water. This is said to eliminate the need for lifeguards or other supervision, as there is little risk of drowning. Typically ...

s, a shelter,

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

areas, and restrooms available.

Docks

One

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

was originally built for the

1982 World's Fair The 1982 World's Fair, officially known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition (KIEE) and simply as Energy Expo '82 and Expo '82, was an international exposition held in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Focu ...

. In 2017, a privately owned boat hit the dock and damaged it. It was closed afterwards, though the city had already planned improvements prior to the incident. The replacement dock cost $270,000 and 75 percent was financed by a TWRA grant. In April 2018, city-owned 360-foot-long boat dock reopened. The Vol Navy dock is near Neyland Stadium. The dock and concrete pavilion were built 1994 and was funded by a TWRA grant. In 1998, 200 feet were added. In 2019, the new dock was completed. It is nearly 600 feet long. The TWRA funded the project with a $400,000 grant and $100,000 came from the city and UT. The Public Building Authority managed the project. The city owns the dock and UT maintains it.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_departments_offices/parks_and_recreation/parks/volunteer_landing_park Tourist attractions in Knoxville, Tennessee Parks in Tennessee 1997 establishments in Tennessee