Public can get a glimpse of Pat Summitt park
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — The Pat Head Summitt Legacy Park is one step closer to reality.
Volunteers with the park's planning committee unveiled a sign at the site's location along the north section of the Cumberland RiverWalk on Tuesday showcasing the statue and park design.
"We're really at that spot where we worked for almost three years now to imagine what would be an appropriate way to honor Pat Head Summitt," committee Chairman Richard Stevens said.
The committee selected sculptor J. Brett Grill in August 2014 to design the statue honoring the legendary Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball coach. The statue will accompany a "Victory Wall" monument modeled after the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship trophy. The Victory Wall will be inscribed with 1,098 basketballs to mark each one of Summitt's victories as well as eight gold basketballs to signify each championship.
"Coach Summitt is really a lot more than a sports figure," Stevens said. "I think she's an American cultural icon because she is one of the few people, the leading agent, that reshaped the sports landscape for women in America.
"Before Pat's success, there weren't women getting sports scholarships to the degree they are now. There weren't as many women coaches and certainly they weren't being paid very well like they are now ... she really pulled our society forward."
The planning committee was formed in 2013 and has since raised more than $100,000 in monetary donations and pledges and an estimated $150,000 of in-kind donations for construction of the park.
The committee's goal, according to member Frank Lott of BLF Marketing, was not only to honor the coach but to make it an educational experience as well.
"It's been a process of refinement and about finding the right combination of elements," Lott said. "The fact we now have a marriage of elements that make up a park as well as an interpretive display is great.
"The hardest part of the project has now jelled."
The committee hopes to begin construction on the park in March and have it ready to open for RiverFest in September, Stevens said.
When the project is complete, both ends of the RiverWalk will feature two prominent figures in women's sports who were raised in Montgomery County — Wilma Rudolph, a gold medal Olympic athlete from the 1960s, and Summitt.
Story continues below photo.
Charlie Foust, president of the Two Rivers Co., who attended Tuesday's unveiling, said he was "pleased" to see the project moving forward. The park, along with the downtown Civic Plaza, which the TRC has a hand in developing, have progressed in the past months.
"It's nice to see incremental progress wherever it occurs," Foust said. "I look at all of this as being parts of the same picture."
As for the park's design, the committee went through a few revisions before it settled on placing Summitt's statue in front of five seats to depict the coach's teaching moments and lessons Summitt has left on so many people. The committee's theme throughout the development process has been "Honoring a Champion. Inspiring Greatness."
Plans for the park include:
- A widened stretch of the RiverWalk, paved in orange and white stones with a raised walkway on the north side, flanked on one side by a brick “story wall.”
- The story wall will have four flat panel interpretive displays, highlighting various eras of Summitt's life, from her childhood in Henrietta to college player to coaching legend.
- The focal point is a bronze statue of Summitt in a classic coaching pose — with five stools arranged in a semicircle to represent the gathering of players during a timeout.
- On the other side of the walkway will be an area defined by paving stones shaped to evoke the free-throw lane of a basketball court along with the Victory Wall with 1,098 basketballs etched in its facade.
- A landscaped berm will rise behind the story wall, and various plantings will enhance and define the edges of the micropark.
Sculptor chosen for Clarksville’s Pat Head Summitt Legacy Park
The sculptor's and the committee's goal was to capture that "inspirational moment," which Lott said will not only inspire but draw more people to the north end of the RiverWalk.
"With Grill (the sculptor), we had the benefit to capture that inspirational moment," Lott said. "People are just going to be very emotionally engaged."
The price tag for the project is estimated at $500,000, primarily to pay for the bronze statue and related art works, finalized project design, construction services and management, and materials. The committee is still working to attract local donors, corporate sponsors and other donors from businesses and individuals across the state.
More details on the park can be found at patheadsummittpark.com. A tax-deductible donation can be made on the site. Those interested can contact Richard Stevens at 931-245-0220.
Richard Stevens is also the news director and general manager at The Leaf-Chronicle.
Reach Ray Howze at 931-245-0750 and on Twitter @rayhowze_leaf.