A group of adventurers navigate paths with adaptive gear. Each chair is built to handle the challenges of the trail. They’re able to enjoy access, freedom, and the joy of being outside. Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Photo by Andromeda Stewart)
A steady rhythm of metal and motion cuts through a quiet trail, the soft clicking of chains, the hum of wheels as hands push left, right, left along a path through Greenway Farms in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Somewhere between effort and ease, mechanics and mountainside, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors’ Therapeutic Recreation department is bridging a gap. With the help of brand new GRIT adaptive junior wheelchairs, it’s not just about access to local trails, but a sense of belonging that all youth deserve.
Making Chattanooga’s scenic trails accessible to all is no single effort. It is the result of collaboration and dedication shared between GRIT Freedom’s All-Terrain wheelchair technology, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s quality-of-life grant, and the Chattanooga Therapeutic Recreation department’s intimate team. “Really zooming out and saying, all right, so we know it can be done, but it’s how is it gonna be done?” Therapeutic Recreation Department Head Elaine Gossett said. “Chattanooga is a great place to get outside, but it doesn’t necessarily make every trail accessible.”
Ellie Heinichen speaks at the Tennessee Riverpark. She aims to teach the audience about the Therapeutic Recreation Department as well as the many adaptive programs that are available for her son David. The Rec Department organizes adaptive biking and now offers all terrain wheelchairs.
At its core, the initiative addresses a simple, but substantial roadblock: traditional wheelchairs just aren’t built for outdoor trails. GRIT Freedom Chair CEO Derek Johnson explains, “Traditional wheelchairs get stuck on almost anything…rocks, cracks, sticks, stumps, mud, sand… They just aren’t suitable for off-road trails.”
Jackson Gammon soars above a wooden half-pipe outside of Cassette Skate Shop. The business held its grand opening of a temporary skatepark in February. Friday, February 20th, 2026. (Photo by Andromeda Stewart)
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is home to a vibrant skate community currently undergoing immense changes. What was once a cultural hub, practice grounds, and the only legal spot designated for skating, ChattTown Skatepark is currently reduced to being a dirt lot. While only a temporary inconvenience, skaters from far and wide are searching for a gathering place while the $4.4 million skate park renovation is underway.
The dilapidated wooden structures hadn’t satisfied local skaters for decades. A need for a new park was brought to light by local skaters who spoke up about how the previous wooden ramps just weren’t cutting it anymore. The Chattown Skatepark officially closed for reconstruction on November 10, 2025, and is set to reopen in late 2026.
Gene Haman, the owner of VW Clubhouse, shares how Thursday nights have welcomed a community of displaced skateboarders in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A backyard car shop turned haven with a simple half pipe, these skateboarders stay resilient amidst the current renovation of ChattTown skatepark.
Despite not having a main skate park for the next few months, the Chattanooga skate scene is still thriving and finding any and every opportunity to go out and skate together. It’s community players that work behind-the-scenes, offering their own business parking lots and backyard shops to Chattanooga skateboarders that act as the glue for skate culture while ChattTown is closed.
Defend Systems’ active shooter training arrived at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga following a fake active-shooter 9-1-1 call on August 21, 2025. All UTC faculty and staff were required to attend a three-hour Defend Systems training designed to improve preparedness and response to armed violence threats. (Video by Kayelyn McCaslin).
Written by Malcolm Key
Malcolm Key speaks with Sean O’Brien and Brink Fidler about the false-flag shooting alert at UTC in August 2025. The pair discuss their hope to arm people with education in order to confront questions of public safety within higher education.
Run. Hide. Fight. A message of few words, but of massive impact for students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on August 21, 2025. Just one full week into the first semester, students had to act on instinct: barricading into closets and running to the closest outgoing car. Within minutes, city law enforcement redirected to UTC to join campus police in sweeping every inch of campus, prepared to find the threat and establish safety. After the dust settled, and no signs of injury or gunfire were found, UTC Police debriefed, with an emphasis on the question, “How can we do better?”
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a city of reinvention. Before this small southern metropolis became the first National Park City in the United States, it was running from its reputation as the dirtiest city in America. Earning this badge of infamy after playing an integral role in the Civil War, Chattanooga’s history is an allegory that features as many bends as the Tennessee River it was built around. The reshaping is a story of civic and community ambitions acting as the catalyst for the city’s degradation and its renaissance.
Linda Moss Mines, Chattanooga historian, tells the history of the city from the time of the Civil War to when its becoming a National Park City Wednesday, October 8, 2025. (Photo by Clara Paulson)
Chattanooga was labeled the “dirtiest city in America” in 1969 by Walter Cronkite, but the history is much more complex. During the Civil War, the city was a pivotal part of Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan. A Union strategy created to defeat the Confederacy by blocking southern ports and capturing the Mississippi River. It was essential to the Union’s victory to take Chattanooga, “because it was the apex of the Tennessee River, which connects with the Mississippi,” said Linda Moss Mines, official Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian.
This apex propelled the city into becoming the gateway to the South, which transformed Chattanooga into a growing, diverse community, creating a hub for industrial advancement. This booming industry prompted the city to be nicknamed the Dynamo of the Dixie, but it was also this ambition that led to the notorious title.
At times, a smog blanketed the city, smothering dreams of the future. Mines reflects on her view of the city on Signal Mountain when she drove to work:
Mike Harding fishes from the dock on the Tennessee River next to Coolidge Park Wednesday, September 30, 2025. (Photo by Clara Paulson)
“At the top of the Signal [Mountain], you [looked] down, and you could not see the city. It was incredible. It looked like a perpetual fog” said Mines. The title of the dirtiest city will always be etched into Chattanooga’s history, but the community members of that day resisted that distinction and chose to redefine their future.
In order to move forward, Chattanooga had to look back. Before its industrialization, the city was studying plans by landscape architect John Nolen to improve the park system from within. This, in combination with philanthropy and community direction, led to the creation of Chattanooga Venture’s Vision 2000; a plan that would redefine the city forever, leading to the creation of the Tennessee Aquarium, Ross’ Landing, the Riverwalk, and the Walnut Street Bridge. Vision 2000 ushered in a new era for Chattanooga, an era of transformation.
The story of this southern metropolis’ transformation is one of recognizing what held Chattanooga back, propelling it toward becoming a greener, cleaner, and healthier city. From the dirtiest city in America in 1969, to Vision 2000 in the 90s, to now, the first National Park City, Chattanooga’s story is one of constant reinvention.
Meet the Storytellers
Malcolm Key is a senior Communication major with a minor in Environmental Studies at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Key is a previous Division 1 NCAA athlete turned multimedia artist, graphic designer, and visual storyteller. He is passionate about sharing truths of the human experience using digital communication and its various forms. He is currently serving as Broadcast Assistant for WUTC public radio, where he connects written, video, and photojournalism skills with audio journalism and production. Key’s keen interest lies in connecting with the arts, music, global culture, urban development, and infrastructure. Key uses photography to highlight the overlooked and shine light on the forgotten. If you want him to shine light on your story or collaborate on a project, contact him at tfc775@mocs.utc.edu. For his graphic works, click here.
Clara Paulson is a Junior Communication major attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with minors in Brock Scholars and Creative Writing. Paulson is a writer and photographer who aims to capture the charm of Chattanooga’s culture. She has experience as an assistant university photographer, photo editor for the University Echo, and published author in the Sequoya Review. When she’s not behind a camera, you’ll find her hiking, paddleboarding, and rafting the Ocoee. After graduation, her goal is to continue writing—whether it’s with ink or light—the unheard stories of Chattanooga and beyond. If you want her to tell your story, you can reach out to her at tnq894@mocs.utc.edu.
