"The Hidden Jewel" of Enterprise South

Mention the terms "Volkswagen" or "Enterprise South," and most people think of the 13-hundred-50 acres of land where V-W plans to build its American assembly plant in Chattanooga.  What they don't know, is, there's a lot more land outside the plant site, that just may become one of your favorite getaways.  It's a place of peace and solitude, that's right in Volkswagen's backyard.

Of the 6-thousand acres of land that make up Enterprise South, only 13-hundred-50 acres belong to Volkswagen.  There's another 28-hundred acres, that will be a passive nature park.  "In other words, trails, wildlife, things of that nature," says J. Ed Marston, marketing director at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.  "It's not going to be a very developed area, but it will be a great nature preserve, open to the public."  We toured the Enterprise South Nature Park with Lee Greene of Hamilton County Parks and Recreation and County Mayor Claude Ramsey.  "It's not going to be soccer fields and softball fields," says Mayor Ramsey, "it's going to be a place to come ride your bike, walk."  Normally in this part of Enterprise South, you'll see turkey, coyotes and other woods dwellers, along with their larger, 4-legged friends.  We saw several deer in different locations in the proposed park while riding around it.  The roads in that area are all part of the old Volunteer Army Ammunitions Plant, and most of them will be closed off.  "There will not be any automobiles or motorized traffic inside the park," says Lee Greene, with Hamilton County's Parks and Recreation Department, the agency who will manage the passive park.  "There will be a perimiter road, with some pulloffs where you can access woodland trails."

There will be hiking trails, biking trails, walking trails, picnic areas, and overlooks like one that overlooks the future Volkswagen factory.  There'll also be reminders of the land's original heritage.. we happened upon an old storage bunker, that Mayor Ramsey says, was once used to store TNT during the heyday of the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant.  "We plan to leave it, and the others here, as historic relics to a time of tension long since gone."

TWRA will manage the park's wildlife, and Hamilton County Parks and Recreation will manage the people life.  "Our biggest concern," says Mr. Greene, "will be, is knowing who's here in the park and when they leave.. how we're going to manage that, to make sure they are out at night.. the park will close at dark."

The land is very pristine, completely devoid of human life, and therefore Mayor Ramsey says, "a treasure that Volkswagen, a "green" company,. recognized once they committed to building their American factory here.  "The more you see the land and ride through it and get familiar with it," he says, "the more you just can't believe that it's here.. it's just an unbelievable place."

"It is a hidden jewel," he says.  "It really is."

In addition to Volkswagen's 13-hundred-50 acres, and the nature park's 28-hundred acres, there is still ANOTHER 12-hundred acres of the old Volunteer Army Ammunition plant, that the federal government has a mandate to clean up, before the city and county can take it over.  Marston says, V-W will have the first right of refusal on that property, and if they don't need it, it will be sold as an industrial site..