Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. Photo Taken From Point Park. (Photo: National Park Service)
NASHVILLE — Tennessee’s State Building Commission approved a $260 million replacement facility for Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga even though no new location is set to replace the old location on a Native American historical site.
The project price includes the purchase of a different tract after several groups persuaded Gov. Bill Lee to conduct an archeological review of the state-owned land in Moccasin Bend where the hospital has been operating since 1961.
Nearly three-fourths of the state property contains layers of historic materials such as pits and hearths from the Woodland period, indicating more intact features could be within the archeological site, such as human remains and isolated burials. Surveys have shown burial mound complexes and subterranean villages there, according to reports.
State Sen. Bo Watson, who has been working with the Department of General Services and Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Marie Williams, said he expected the State Building Commission to approve the revised project.
“When we determined that we could not build on the historic Moccasin Bend site we knew we would be looking at other sites which might require a reworked plan for a new mental health facility,” Watson said.
No final decision has been made on a site for the new mental health facility. The state is believed to be looking at two sites, one of which is in Chattanooga. Knoxville could be in play, too.
Native American groups, including the Eastern Band of the Cherokee tribe and the Cherokee Nation, passed a resolution in June 2024 calling for preservation of sacred tribal sites, in opposition to the state’s initial plan to rebuild on Moccasin Bend. Their involvement likely swayed the state’s decision not to build on the old Moccasin Bend site.
“That was the coup de grace,” said Chattanooga resident Frank Robbins, who opposed reconstructing on the historically significant site.
The State Building Commission appeared ready to move ahead with reconstruction on the Moccasin Bend site in September 2023. At that time, the Tennessee Historical Commission found that demolition or disposal of facilities there would adversely affect the property and encouraged the state to find other options.
Proponents of a new site argued that when 2003 legislation created the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District, verbal commitments were made to the National Park Service and Native American tribes that any “discontinuance or non-conforming” uses in the area would lead to land reverting to the use as a national park. The area was declared a national historic landmark in 1986.
The process was complicated by Moccasin Bend Golf Club, a shooting range, wastewater treatment and private property held there.
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