NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — South Nashville neighbors are demanding answers after the city redirected funding set aside for a greenway expansion they voted for — and say they were kept in the dark while it happened.
The effort to look into these concerns began after one neighbor spoke up in Patsy's "Your Voice, Your South Nashville" Facebook group.
Click here to join.
The Seven Mile Creek Greenway has sat at half a mile for years. Residents voted in 2024 to expand it to a full mile through a program that lets neighbors decide how to spend some city dollars. The city set aside about $800,000 for the extension and playground improvements. Two years later, the playground is finished, but the greenway remains unchanged.
"But this was a promise that was made to our community. And we want you all in parks to keep the promise that was made to us," one neighbor said.
Residents brought their frustration to Wednesday's Greenways and Open Space Commission Meeting.
"Greenways are an incredible resource that shouldn't only be available to people in neighborhoods like mine, where houses go for well over a million dollars. Please prioritize funding for greenways in all neighborhoods," one speaker said.
Another resident said the delay was made worse by a lack of transparency.
"I think even worse than the delay and the kind of irresponsibility of this building has been the lack of transparency. For months, parks employees assured residents that this project was moving forward. But behind the scenes, the money was being redirected," the resident said.
"And so it's a huge disappointment to folks like us to not be able to access this thing that we were supposed to get. We didn't vote for a bathroom, we voted for a greenway," another neighbor said.
Residents are now calling on Metro Parks to acknowledge what happened and make it right.
"The things that I would like to ask parks for is first an apology, a recognition that this did not go the way that they promised it would go and that it will impact the neighborhood," one resident said.
"Our request though is clear. Replace the money you misdirected, get back to work, and at long last deliver what you promised," another said.
Metro Parks received approximately $823,000 in ARPA funding for improvements at Whitfield Park in April 2024. Of that amount, approximately $463,135 was allocated toward design and construction of the greenway extension.
During design, the department said several significant constraints emerged, including floodway permitting requirements, TVA coordination, utility conflicts, and the need for NES coordination related to the Edmondson Pike connection and utility pole relocation.
An engineering consultant spent several months attempting to secure the coordination needed to move the work forward. By that point, approximately $41,000 had already been billed for engineering services when the department determined the project schedule could not meet the ARPA deadline.
Because ARPA funding is time-limited federal funding, the remaining funds were redirected to other eligible improvements that could be completed within the required timeframe, including restroom renovations at Whitfield Park.
In a statement last month, Metro Parks said the project has not been abandoned.
"We've been very transparent with the constituents that have contacted you about this project. This project has not been abandoned," Metro Parks said.
The department added it intends to pursue future funding opportunities to move the project forward.
Now, neighbors say it's time to move beyond promises.
"Now, greenways can be complicated. Everybody gets that, I get that. So why did Metro Parks wait so long to even get started?" one resident said.
Commission members told neighbors they would pass their comments along to Metro Parks. NewsChannel5 has emailed Metro Parks staff for an update and we're still waiting to hear back.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
Young or old, we all love to play board and card games! Those games become even more important when you are indoors and don't have the ability to get outside, like patients in a hospital. Austin Pollack shares the story of students in a Nashville family who have helped re-launch the Red Wagon project to collect games for patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
- Lelan Statom
