Murfreesboro Island Is in the Works
culture, gateway trail, retreat, tennessee department of transportation,
Murfreesboro residents will soon have a new venue for corporate events and private parties, and it’s unlike anything the city has ever seen.
As part of the City of Murfreesboro’s plan to extend its current greenway system, an island is being constructed on the eastern part of a manmade pond along the Gateway Trail. This will be home to a 1,300-square-foot reception center that will include a caterer’s kitchen, restrooms and a multipurpose room.
“The island is about the size of a football field, and it will include the reception center, a pavilion and an overlook,” says Rob Lyons, deputy city manager for the City of Murfreesboro. “Accommodations have been made to display public art on a sculpture pad. The island is accessed from two steel bridges that span over waterfalls, which add to the ambiance, and it will be lushly landscaped.”
The Gateway Trail extension, island and reception center are being built at a cost of about $5 million, largely funded by the federal government.
“The project is substantially funded through two federal transportation acts and supplemented by transportation enhancement funds awarded by the Tennessee Department of Transportation,” Lyons says.
The Gateway Trail portion of the project will include extending the city’s current greenway system an additional 2.2 miles through the newly developed $300 million campus of Middle Tennessee Medical Center, scheduled for completion in 2010, along Medical Center Parkway. In the future, the city hopes to extend the trail system to Siegel Park and Walter Hill Park, and eventually to Smyrna, La Vergne and Nashville.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Brian McCord
