News 12 Then: How has Chattanooga’s Riverfront changed in 25 years?

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The Tennessee Aquarium celebrates their 25th anniversary Thursday night with a sold-out dinner on the Walnut Street Bridge.

We’ve been celebrating by looking back at our archive stories on the building of the Aquarium.

For this story, we are posting aerial video we shot in the late winter/early spring of 1991, a year before the Aquarium opened.

It shows us the Riverfront in transition.

There is no Coolidge or Renaissance Park on the north shore.

No 21st Century Riverfront at Ross’s Landing yet.

The Riverwalk stopped at Amnicola Highway and did not run downtown yet.

The Walnut St. Bridge was closed.

The Lookouts stadium was still just the old Kirkman football field.

And there were still apartments on Cameron Hill, not BlueCross offices.

Also few hotels, restaurants or condos along either shore at this point, just lots of old brick buildings (like the Cheeburger Cheeburger building that finally collapses this month).

And no one was walking along Riverfront Parkway.. there wasn’t anywhere to go!

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Tonight, we air two special reports on the Tennessee Aquarium’s legacy, looking back and looking ahead.

Coming up on News 12 Now at 6PM and Prime News @ 7.