November Is the First Real Test of Heritage Park's All-Season Rebuild

Jack Benson Heritage Park at 1428 Jenkins Road opened two new projects in September, a $2.5 million playground and a $1.68 million parking lot. Most of the attention went to the playground. In its account of the opening, The Pulse described the finished park as "an all-season community hub built for generations to enjoy." November is the first month that phrase gets tested. The days get shorter, the playground gets colder, and the park's calendar moves indoors to the Don Eaves Heritage House Arts and Civic Center. The new parking lot is the piece of this fall's work that links all of it together.

What the September money bought

The new playground is called Harvesting Inclusive Play, and it held its grand opening on Sept. 12, 2026. The Pulse reported that it covers nearly 17,000 square feet in two separate play areas. At $2.5 million, it is the largest fully accessible play space in Hamilton County.

The split by age matters for anyone bringing more than one child:

Both areas are 100% accessible at ground level and on elevated structures. Surfaces are poured-in-place rubber. Features include sensory panels, cooperative games, accessible musical instruments and specialized handrails.

The idea came from Chattanooga Fire Department Captain Skyler Phillips and his son Noah, and it took about ten years to go from idea to opening day. At the opening, as The Pulse reported, Phillips said:

"Ten years is a long time to hold onto a dream, and there were certainly moments when I wondered if we would ever get here. Now, as we get ready to open the gates, I find myself feeling less proud than grateful."

The funding came from many places. About $2 million was public money: $980,000 from the City of Chattanooga, $800,000 from Hamilton County and $250,000 from the Hamilton County delegation to the state. A $440,000 PlayCore grant, fiscal sponsorship from the Chattanooga Kiwanis Youth Foundation, and gifts from the Lyndhurst Foundation, the Riverview Foundation, Stowers Cat, First Horizon Bank and dozens of local businesses and individuals covered the rest.

The parking lot does the cold-weather work

The second project this fall got less coverage and cost less: a $1.68 million parking lot. It is also the part that matters most once the evenings get dark early.

The city's Sept. 14 announcement lists what the lot adds:

• Permeable pavement that soaks up stormwater, so less runoff collects on the surface
• More ADA parking spaces than code requires
• Paths that connect straight into the park's multi-use trail
• Extra utility capacity for future EV charging stations and maintenance work

These features show the lot was built for year-round use. Permeable pavement handles the rainy months. The trail connections tie the parking area to the playground, the dog park, the picnic areas, the green space and the Heritage House. When nobody is on the swings at 6:30 on a Tuesday night in November, people are still parking for the building, and the lot is what serves them.

Heritage House keeps a weekly schedule

The playground is new this fall, but the Heritage House has run a standing weekly calendar for some time. The city's Heritage House page lists two regular evening programs. The library also scheduled a monthly visit, so the next few weeks look like this:

The city lists the dance as running 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and the group's Meetup page shows sessions every Tuesday through Dec. 1. The film series does not post titles, so it is a standing Thursday night with no published lineup.

The Chattanooga Public Library's Dec. 1 pop-up brings books you can check out, library card sign-up and an activity. It follows the same 2 to 5 p.m. visit the library made on Nov. 3. On Dec. 1 you could pick up a library book in the afternoon and come back for the dance at 6:30, without leaving Jenkins Road for anything except dinner.

Saturday, Nov. 7 fills the whole park

The weekday programs keep the building busy. The Paws & Give Thanks Rescue Run on Saturday is the first event this fall that spreads across the whole park. The race registration page and the vendor market listing lay out the day:

1. 7 a.m. Packet pickup opens at 1428 Jenkins Road.
2. 8 a.m. The 5K starts.
3. 8:05 a.m. The one-mile run/walk starts.
4. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Paws and Give Thanks vendor market is open.

The race supports local rescue organizations and has a $5,000 fundraising goal. Organizers will take donations of pet supplies as well as money. The dog park is already part of Heritage Park, which makes the rescue theme a good fit for this spot. The race wraps up in the early morning and the market runs past lunch. If you skip the 5K, there is a whole morning and early afternoon to walk over, drop off a bag of dog food and look around.

The ADA spaces and trail connections in the new lot were built for days like this one, when the parking area has to serve runners, shoppers, playground families and dog owners at once.

Before or after, on Shallowford Road

The park's busier calendar comes as two new food spots open in East Brainerd. On Oct. 22, Chattanoogan.com reported that Beignets & Brew had opened at 7019 Shallowford Road, serving beignets, croissants and drinks. The same report said Corona's, a Mexican restaurant, had opened at 2342 Shallowford Village Drive. That gives you a new option for coffee and a beignet before the 8 a.m. start, or a late lunch after the market closes.

If your walking routine usually includes the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway, one thing hasn't changed. The roughly 1.5 miles between the Camp Jordan access point and the Brainerd Road trailhead at Greenway View Drive have been closed since Nov. 18, 2024. The closure is for stormwater storage and equalization station work, and reopening is expected in summer 2027, according to the city's greenway page. The other 11 miles between Brainerd and the Tennessee River are still open. For a shorter walk closer to home, the trail connections at Heritage Park are the newest option this fall.

If you run in the 5K, stop by the market or see something new at Heritage Park this month, I'd love to hear about it. Swapping notes on what's going on around East Brainerd is one of my favorite parts of this work. Ricky Streeter is always glad to talk about the neighborhood. Let's Connect.