Section of North Chickamauga Greenway opens

A short jaunt of the North Chickamauga Greenway has been built and is now open for public use, officials said Monday.

A half-mile section of the greenway recently was developed between Hixson Middle School and Morning Pointe of Hixson, said Rick Wood, executive director of the Trust for Public Land.

The section will become part of a proposed 15- to 18-mile pathway from Greenway Farm to the Cumberland Trail atop Signal Mountain.

"This is not along the creek," Mr. Wood said. "A lot of people will be able to access this location."

In December, the Trust for Public Land acquired a 15-acre conservation easement along North Chickamauga Creek at Clear Creek Church of Christ for the greenway.

For the half-mile trail, the Hamilton County Department of Education, Morning Pointe of Hixson and Life Care Centers of America teamed up to give the easement off Old Hixson Pike.

Mr. Wood said a paved trail similar to the Tennessee Riverwalk already has been built. It runs alongside the Morning Pointe, a senior center, and ballfields at the middle school, he said.

Greg Vital, president and CEO of Independent Healthcare Properties, which owns Morning Pointe of Hixson, said he saw the trail as a "no-brainer" that would see uses by people from different generations.

For instance, seniors at Morning Pointe can use it for exercise, he said, and students at the middle school will be able to use it as well.

As part of their work for the trail, Morning Pointe officials took an old barn built by the Hixson family and moved it close to the greenway, he said. The barn was built in the 1840s out of chestnut tree logs, Mr. Vital said.

"We relocated it along the greenway for the enjoyment of the public," he said.

Eventually, the trail will link with Clear Creek Church of Christ by using some of the sidewalks in the area, Mr. Wood said. Plans are in the works to begin constructing a trail near the church within the next few weeks, he said.

Everett Fairchild, who represents the area for the school board, did not return phone calls.

Councilwoman Pam Ladd, who represents the district where the trail is located, said the new property acquisitions show a slow, but steady march toward piecing the whole trail together.

"It's had to happen in disconnected sections," she said. "But you can see how it is coming together overall."