KINGSPORT — Imagine an Indian Highland Park with eight tennis courts and lacrosse playing fields added to the athletic mix and other uses already there.
The overall plan could touch on athletics, academics and the expansion of spaces to benefit both at Dobyns-Bennett High School.
Those are the some of the ideas and concepts that Assistant Superintendent of Administration Andy True and Chief Student Services Officer and former D-B Assistant Principal Jim Nash presented to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at a recent work session.
The current park has soccer fields, a soccer field house, softball fields, batting cages, concessions, restrooms, public seating/tables, open field space and an observation tower, as well as parking on the northeast side of the park.
“We need to have an open mind to what those things could be,” Nash said.
“We are so landlocked on our current campus of Dobyns-Bennett of 35 acres,” he said.
ATHLETICS
At last Tuesday’s work session, True said one idea, if the school system bought all or most of the properties east of Park Street, would be to move the six tennis courts on the D-B campus side of Center Street to the park and add two more for a total of eight.
True said that for tennis tournaments eight is an optimal number of courts, and Board of Education Vice President Julie Byers said the current courts are overdue for resurfacing.
Byers asked if all the rest of the houses and lots in questions were purchased if there would be enough room for eight tennis courts.
True said he is no engineer, but an initial look indicates that would make enough room.
“There’s an opportunity to do something significant there,” True said. And in partnership with the city of Kingsport, True said, indoor tennis facilities are another option.
Another idea is to add a lacrosse field and storage/locker rooms to Indian Highland. The Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association (TSSAA) this year added lacrosse to the list of sanctioned sports, Superintendent Jeff Moorhouse said.
ACADEMICS
In addition, True said that career technical education, including construction technology, horticulture and the D-B greenhouse and STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math) could expand into the area the tennis courts now occupy.
Also, he said the color guard and performing arts programs could use some of that space.
EXPANSIONS
Nash said that indoor and outdoor expansions allowed by the proposals could include additional parking, better concessions and more locker rooms for all sports.
BOE member Eric Hyche said the board needs to keep in mind the need for more parking for existing activities at the park, much less added ones.
True said at times, soccer, track, tennis, softball and band practices occur at the same time in the Stadium Court and Indian Highland Park area, with the Highland parking serving the D-B side and vice versa.
WHAT IS PATH FORWARD?
Nash and True said the path forward would include continued purchases of Park Street property on the east side of the street by the school system and a partnership with the city, as well as collaborating with stakeholder groups including the school system’s Safety Task Force and parents.
Moorhouse said the city is willing to help facilitate the demolition of structures on purchased lots.
BOE member Todd Golden asked if a “skywalk” or elevated walkway across Center Street would be allowed or supported by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. That would be similar to the one that serves Science Hill High School in Johnson City. That walkway crosses Roan Street.
A similar elevated walkway once was discussed to link the D-B campus with the Palmer Early Childhood Development Center and the Midland Center on the west side of Fort Henry Drive.
“It’s been talked about,” said interim board member Tim Dean, who was on the school board in the 1980s and is filling the seat left vacant by the death of Carrie Upshaw until the May city elections. “I’m sure it’s not been discussed in a long time.”
Dean also said it is important the school board is ready to act on opportunities to buy land when they present themselves.
“If you’re not ready to act, the opportunity quickly slips away,” Dean said.
ONE PARK STREET PROPERTY UP FOR SALE NOW
True and Nash said that the Indian Highland expansion began in earnest in 2003 with seven purchases of property so far on the eastern side of Park Street, with other parcels purchased in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and two in 2016. At the time of the last Indian Highland Park update in 2019, True said, three pieces of property fronting the east side of Park Street were on the market.
As of Tuesday, True said he knew of only one of the 12 parcels not owned by the school system that was for sale. One house and lot the closest to Center Street with a for sale sign in the yard is a pending sale, True said.
A former church that the school system bought on Park Street was used for office space for years and then became storage for six years until being torn down recently.
Board President Jim Welch said that begs the question of the school system doing something with property it bought instead of letting it sit there “and disintegrate the neighborhood.”
IS A LOOK BACK A GOOD LOOK AHEAD?True and Nash said a forward pf visioning for the future of Indian Highland Park includes a look backward at how Dobyns-Bennett High School expanded over time into the residential Stadium Court area.
They showed the board an image of Stadium Court that appeared as if it could have been from the 1960s to 1980s, showing greenery, trees and homes, but they then told the board that photograph was from 1999. In the 21 years since, the Stadium Court area has been completely purchased by the school system and included a surfaced practice field for the D-B band, student parking and an expanded music building.