Realizing a Park to Restore Mill Creek
Mill Creek Watershed Association (MCWA) and a local Antioch advocacy group share their in-depth vision of their prospective local parkBy Kathleen Dennis, PhD, Director, MCWA
4 min read Dr. Kathleen Dennis, on behalf of the MCWA and a local Antioch advocacy group, details the ideas developed by community members, their benefits to the Nashville as a whole, and ways to make this potential park a reality
Let's Follow Through on an Old Idea
This context map shows where Mill Creek Park fits within existing natural recreation areas surrounding Antioch Pike.
We seek to convince Metro Nashville to move forward on plans for a park and a footbridge previously proposed for approximately 6 acres of land acquired by the city along Antioch Pike, pictured in the interactive map below.
Park Deficit AreaA new park on Antioch Pike will provide the local community with calming green space reflecting Tennessee’s natural beauty in an area currently dominated by a high traffic road and railway barriers.
A park on Antioch Pike meets criteria for urban green infrastructure as established in the “Nashville Next Comprehensive Plan” adopted by the city, June 2015, the “Plan To Play: Parks and Greenways Master Plan,” adopted, March 2017 by the Parks and Recreation Board, and the “Nashville WalkNBike Strategic Plan for Sidewalks and Bikeways,” first adopted in 2003 and updated, in 2008 and January 2023 by the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT). One goal central in these plans is to establish parks within a 10-minute walk from any neighborhood in Nashville. A park at Antioch Pike would meet this goal, supporting several neighborhoods to the north and south of Antioch Pike.
Restoring the Ecology of Mill Creek
The view from inside Mill Creek Park, Antioch Pike runs along the right of this image
This park will restore and support the health of Mill Creek. The river is on the list of Tennessee Impaired Waterways, struggling with challenges from the impact of urbanization along much of its length, and nonpoint source agriculture damage near and within the head water streams at its farthest reaches. Establishing urban forests and extending restored native riparian buffers along the stream will restore Mill Creek and protect our freshwater resources.
Integrating the needs of the community with restoration and protection of the stream is an important goal of the MCWA. The organization recognizes access to urban forests and green space as essential for human mental health and well being. Neuroscientific research studies demonstrate that access to natural areas helps alleviate symptoms of common mental health challenges. The MCWA works to merge these human health needs with the need for restorative work on Mill Creek through the development of green spaces supporting healing for both humans and the local ecosystem.
“One goal central in these plans is to establish parks within a 10-minute walk from any neighborhood in Nashville.”
Community Vision of a Park on Antioch Pike
This figure demonstrates the distribution of the amenities requested by park attendees, the largest being a water feature
On March 25th, 2023, a local committee of community advocates joined members of the MCWA at the Southeast Nashville Easter Egg Hunt on the lawn of the Southeast Branch of the Nashville Public Library on Hickory Hollow Parkway. During the event, members of our group collected over 100 names of individuals and families that were in support of a park on Antioch Pike. Community members were asked what amenities they would like to see included in the park. A summary of these responses is found in Figure 1.
The number one element requested by the community was a splash pad. Several people were interested in a playground or playground equipment, and others asked for areas to play basketball and soccer. Flowers and trees, gardens, and some type of a musical installation were also requested. For those who like games, there was an interest in checker/chess tables and seating areas as well as areas for other types of games. For the young participants, the idea of a hopscotch or jump rope station was very appealing. Still others thought it would be nice to have a grassy area for “doing flips” somewhere in the park and one youngster would love to “find a bunny”. We have reviewed these requests and begun to bring together a vision of a park that meets some of these suggestions within this small 6 acre area.
Community-Informed Design
Pedestrian Bridge over Mill Creek
Our community engagement supports the design of a largely passive green space with some areas dedicated to low-impact recreational activities. The requests for areas dedicated to soccer, basketball and playground items will be accommodated by the addition of a footbridge over Antioch Pike and Mill Creek to the greenway. From there it is a short walk along the greenway to these existing areas at Antioch Park. This allows us to dedicate the six acres on Antioch Pike to the enjoyment of lower impact recreational activities as well as calming contemplative engagements.
Preservation of the existing trees supplemented with new plantings will establish the Antioch Arboretum. We will complement the arboretum with a series of walking paths along garden beds with flowers and shrubs, including benches and game tables throughout the gardens. Trees and shrubs will be limited to native species with educational plaques and name tags so people can be informed of our native landscape.
Conceptual rendering of Mill Creek Park, featuring Harmony Road, a music making path and a bridge connecting the park to the Mill Creek Greenway
Other areas of the park will provide places for low-impact play and recreation. We envision places along the pathways that turn out to provide spaces for hopscotch, a grassy area “for doing flips”, a jump rope station and possibly a space for shuffleboard. All these spaces would integrate into the area surrounding the main feature of the park—the splash pad. The splash pad will be a representation in miniature of a forest creek reminiscent of Mill Creek. This splash pad would be replete with rocky outcroppings, and grassy spots for sitting and enjoying the view as well as the cooling shade of the old trees.
To meet our single request for “a bunny”, we would like to provide an art feature. We consider either a rabbit sculpture or mosaic or perhaps a series of small rabbit statues secreted among the walking paths for youngsters to find on a “bunny” scavenger hunt.
Harmony Park elements can be used along a path, creating Harmony Road
One last feature would integrate the interest people have in providing a musical element in the park. We suggest this feature be incorporated into the design of the bridge, similar to the “Harmony Park” design precedent. The integration of these elements, requested by our community, will create a lovely natural space for people of all ages to gather and play along Antioch Pike.
Intentional Community Development and Installation
We encourage Metro Nashville to reach out to the Antioch community and engage regional artisans, masons, landscapers, and others to help design, plan and build the park. We will support this effort to establish local stakeholders through our own continued outreach. Intentional efforts to engage the community on all aspects of the park design, and installation, will inspire a sense of community ownership around the park. In speaking with a Nashville muralist, we have learned that through intentional efforts to engage the community in the processes of design, development, and installation, we can build community ownership and pride in the resulting project. This encourages care, continued maintenance and protection for the installation for years to come.
We strongly urge Metro Nashville to intentionally engage the community during the development of a park they can call their own. The local park advocates and the MCWA will continue to actively seek increasing community engagement and identify other stakeholders that will support our vision. We look forward to realizing our goal of a park on Antioch Pike.