News

Grand Opening of Nashville's Northwest YMCA Healthy Place Park

11 / February / 2022

The Northwest YMCA in Nashville, TN celebrated the Grand Opening of their BlueCross Healthy Place Park.

This is the third Healthy Place Park Barge has assisted the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation in the development of, working through outdoor recreation company and client PlayCore. The first two are in Memphis and Chattanooga, with a fourth underway in Knoxville expected to break ground March 2022. Each are in low income, diverse neighborhoods.

The aim of the Healthy Place initiative is to bring neighbors and communities together through fun, free, healthy resources for all. Organizations and communities can apply for a grant from the Foundation to establish a park in their area. The grant winners can pick from a selection of pre-designed packages, each including a park for younger children, a park for older children, an obstacle course, a fitness area, and additional options such as a pavilion or walking trail.

Barge has been selected as the Landscape Architect and Civil Engineer for all four Healthy Place Parks. For this project, Roy Hasle, PE served as Barge’s Financial Project Manager and completed the civil work alongside David Roos, EI, with Joe Sawyer, LA, ASLA, and Andy Carr, PLA, completing the landscape architecture design. Sawyer also served as overall design lead and client manager. This newest location in Nashville includes a multipurpose grass field, splash pad, two playgrounds, obstacle course, fitness area, two basketball/pickleball courts, large pavilion, and a restroom building. All playgrounds are designed to be inclusive for all abilities.

“It’s terrific to participate in a wellness initiative that a statewide brand is bringing to fruition,” shares Sawyer. “Every project is very different, meeting the needs of the community, so it’s great to see these come together successfully.”