KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Legacy Parks has been working on a park in East Knox County since 2019 — the Veterans Memorial Park. It's dedicated to honoring veterans and overlooks the French Broad River and the East Tennessee State Cemetery.
On Friday, the Legacy Parks Foundation took a massive step toward the park's competition after it received a $100,000 donation from Food City. Carol Evans, the Legacy Park Foundation's executive director, said the nonprofit began the park after hearing from veterans.
"We really listened to veterans organizations for them to tell us what they thought they needed, and a gathering place was one, and a place for additional monuments was also a second request, so we've been able to accommodate both of those", she said.
The nonprofit has had some setbacks when building the park, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of materials going up. The project as a whole has cost around $1.8 million dollars in total. However, the donation from Food City cuts the fundraising efforts in half.
Steve Smith, the president and CEO of Food City, said he feels giving back to veterans is the right thing to do.
"This park will be here long past when we're gone. And I can only imagine the generations of veteran's families that will be able to come here and say, 'My dad, my grandfather, maybe even my great-grandfather is buried there,'" he said.
The groups said that the park is a place for people to visit and reflect on the veterans who served in teh United States military.
"This really compliments the cemetery but also provides a beautiful place overlooking the cemetery for anyone to come and just enjoy the park," said Evans.
The park has received donations from many public and private entities and, once it opens, it will be owned and operated by Knox County as a public park. Smith said the park wouldn't be possible without the generosity of the people of Knox County.
"There's a reason we're called the Volunteer State, and to see how much this region supports veterans just really is heartwarming. And it goes back for generations and generations," he said.
The park's original opening day was set to be in fall 2024, but the Legacy Park Foundation said its opening should now be around March 2025. The park is located just before the French-Broad River on East Governor John Sevier Highway.