Blog: City Blog

Searing Temperatures? Take a Dip in Recently-reopened Augusta Quarry

Today's temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-90s. The humidity is suffocating. What better way to beat the heat than to take a dip in the refreshingly cool water of the 350-foot-deep Augusta Quarry?

Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park in South Knoxville is in the midst of a $5 million major upgrade.

The quarry was closed last spring and most of this summer as utility work was being completed. And the closures will resume this winter through early summer 2024, when construction and installation get underway on new restrooms, changing rooms, floating beach and swim platforms, an expanded overlook and a more accessible walkway.

But right now - the quarry is open, and it's an Urban Wilderness swimmer's paradise!

New Augusta Quarry amenities - restrooms, an expanded overlook, floating beach and swim platforms and more - will be in place by next summer.

Rendering of the changing rooms and restrooms coming to Augusta Quarry next year

Rendering of the changing rooms and restrooms coming to Augusta Quarry next year

"The quarry upgrades are a public-private collaboration and truly a game-changer," says Wes Soward, the City's Urban Wilderness Coordinator.

"After completion, visitors will find a dramatically improved Augusta Quarry that is more family-friendly and more accessible to more people. It will be safer and easier to access the water. Having restrooms and changing rooms on site will be a welcome upgrade."

Soward credited the City's Augusta Quarry funding partner, The Aslan Foundation, and praised the creativity of the design team - Sanders Pace Architecture, Port Urbanism, JMT Engineering and the Haines Structural Group.

Bids on construction of the new amenities are being solicited now. City staff will select the most responsive proposal, a contract will be negotiated, and Mayor Indya Kincannon will ask City Council this fall to authorize the installation work to begin.

Posted by evreeland On 25 August, 2023 at 11:55 AM