The National Park Service is making concrete plans towards improving Cravens House on the side of Lookout Mountain and on improving many other Civil War Sites on Lookout Mountain.  Having lived right below Cravens House for years, we watched as the National Park Service got less and less funding and therefor limiting access to Cravens House.  Cravens House was open only selectively.  The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on March 30th, 2013 that Cravens house “is now only open for special events” (http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/mar/30/building-may-be-removed-from-cravens/).  What a shame that a Civil War landmark is now only open for special events!

The National Park Service together with park service planners from Colorado, are drawing up new plans to revive Cravens House.  The plan goes as far as burying power lines to restore the Cravens House view, planting an orchard (like what was originally beside Cravens House), and getting rid of unused ranger cabins.  The park service would like to see the battlefields look like they did during the Civil War.  As far as Cravens house specifically is concerned, there are talks of opening the house full time again and of making it a visitor’s center.

The National Park Service owns most of the land from the base of Lookout Mountain to the top pf Lookout Mountain.  The use of that land is also in the park services plan.  One potential change is to have the John Smartt Trail off Oches Highway be open for mountain bike riders.

As a Lookout Mountain native, I am glad that the park service is putting money into the national parks on Lookout Mountain.  Part of what makes Lookout Mountain a great place to live is the natural beauty, the park land, and the natural preservation that has occurred on Lookout Mountain.  Coming home to Lookout Mountain after work is like driving up to your mountain retreat, but with only a 15 minute drive to the city instead of a long drive out to the country.

Improving Lookout Mountain national parks could improve Lookout Mountain home values.  It will bring more attention to the Lookout Mountain and that never hurts.  Part of what makes the Chattanooga area so attractive is how the city has kept up the buildings, invested in sculptures & parks around the city, and how private investments through foundations have improved many downtown Chattanooga neighborhoods.  Those efforts have worked.  Chattanooga has gained national recognitions that Lookout Mountain can piggy-back-ride on.

At the moment that are noticeably less homes for sale on Lookout Mountain than there were one year ago, even according to a friend who has been looking at Lookout Mountain homes for sale for the past 2 years.  There is less to choose from right now.  Beautifying & improving Lookout Mountain will bring more people to the mountain.  Lookout Mountain has been smart to work towards connecting to the Riverwalk that is working it’s way from Riverside Dr by the TN Aquarium down Broad Street to the base of the mountain.  We’ll see what time will tell as the park service, the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, and the City of Chattanooga continue to improve the Lookout Mountain and the areas leading up to Lookout Mountain.

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