Soddy-Daisy announces upgrades to Holly Park thanks to county contribution

SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF)-  Upgrades could soon be coming to a park in Soddy-Daisy.

Hamilton County is giving the city of Soddy-Daisy $250,000 towards their efforts to add amenities to Holly Park.

It is a small park along Soddy Lake off Hixson Pike which currently has one boat dock.

Soddy-Daisy and Hamilton County officials announcing upgrades to Holly Park Friday.

City planners want to add a second boat dock, two sets of pergola swings, a new pavilion along with new signage to increase awareness of the park’s existence and a widened boat ramp to reduce weekend bottlenecks.

Greg Payne, the owner of Soddy Bait and Customs said, “Like I said, I can go on about the boat ramp but anything that we can do over here I feel like is an upgrade, upgrade. It’s a win-win situation and I’m about all out of words.”

They hope that these additions will attract bass fishing tournaments that right now tend to gravitate towards neighboring areas such as Spring City and Nickajack Lake.

Hamilton County Commissioner Gene-O Shipley said, “What I’m hoping to see happens out of this is that Soddy-Daisy and Sale Creek together have a home base for your tournaments. To be able to host tournaments, to be able to make money for your teams, schools, and to see you guys more forward in your fishing.”

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp says this is the result of a new approach of the relationship between county government and small towns.

Mayor Wamp said, “Hamilton County government would often partner with the city of Chattanooga and then certainly the county has the responsibility for all of the unincorporated areas like Sale Creek, but there’s a lack of partnership between the county and the small towns of Hamilton County.”

Shipley says this kind of investment by the county is special.

He said, “This is a huge deal for Soddy-Daisy. 1969, when this city was started to today, and I’ve been involved a long time, I can’t remember Hamilton County government giving us a penny to do a thing. We built this city with our money.”

A timeline for these upgrades is to be determined as this project is still in the design phase.