By the end of today (Friday, April 20, 2018), the new 360-foot-long Volunteer Landing boat dock near Calhoun’s restaurant will reopen for public use.

“The dock is a key amenity of Volunteer Landing,” said Chip Barry, the City’s Deputy Chief of Operations. “In addition to daily public use, Visit Knoxville and local nonprofits make use of the dock for major public events, which is why it was so critical to have this open before the busy boating season.”

The dock is a key component of the 13-acre Volunteer Landing. The waterfront public gathering place is enjoyed by a wide variety of stakeholders – boaters and paddlers coming off the Tennessee River; bicyclists and pedestrians using the 19-mile east-to-west downtown greenway system; thousands of fishermen; and visitors to major riverfront events, including Knoxville’s staple Vol Navy tailgating tradition held before University of Tennessee football games.

The 35-year-old dock – originally built for the 1982 World’s Fair – was closed last year after a privately-owned boat struck and damaged it. The City had been preparing to make improvements to the dock prior to the boating mishap.
The replacement dock cost $270,000, with a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) grant financing 75 percent of the project.

City officials are currently in the design phase for replacing the Vol Navy dock to the west, near Neyland Stadium. The project will be scheduled to either be completed before the 2018 UT football season begins, or work will get underway once the football season concludes.
           
For more information on Volunteer Landing, visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/parks.