During that multiphase project, which wrapped up in 2020, the Aslan Foundation tasked the design team to develop a master plan for the campus. Following review, Sanders Pace and Port (the latter was added to the team in 2016) suggested that the nonprofit look beyond the site and collaborate with the municipal government, among other stakeholders, to develop a cohesive plan for the surrounding area. Dubbed the Knoxville Battlefield Loop, the expanded master plan reenvisions some 600 acres of disjointed historic sites—some related to the Civil War—and postindustrial parcels as a network of connected ecological, cultural, and recreational destinations.

The Augusta Quarry was the first major portion of the Knoxville Battlefield Loop to be tackled. “We called it the outlaw quarry,” explains Port founding partner Andrew Moddrell. “There was no parking area, and an unmaintained gravel ramp led to the lake. It was a mess that was unsafe.”

The lake is 350 feet long and over 250 feet deep. Photo © Keith Isaacs, click to enlarge.

The project scope included the introduction of a formal entryway at the park’s northern border and a 2,000-foot-long gravel road that winds its way through dense forest understory to deliver visitors to a parking lot. A new pathway, built of stabilized decomposed granite, which meets contemporary accessibility standards with gentle slopes and generous widths, steers park users toward vantage points and spots where they can go into the quarry lake. At the waterfront, visitors can access several sets of spacious docks. A float, 260 feet long and in the shape of an incomplete circle, sits within the lake’s center.

The pavilions blend into the forest. They are passively ventilated and provide much-needed amenities to park users. Photo © Keith Isaacs

Besides a handful of portable toilets and trash receptacles, the quarry was entirely without amenities. To support park operations and improve visitor experience, the design team erected five pavilions—three restrooms, one dressing room, and a vendor kiosk. Each is enclosed with weathering-steel framing and shingles, and rests atop concrete foundations. The shingles tilt upward to aid with ventilation, as do rooftop apertures that do double duty by also daylighting the interiors. Within, stainless-steel fixtures facilitate straightforward maintenance, and drainage systems underfoot connect the structures to the city’s sanitary and storm infrastructure.

Initially, the design team envisioned the amenities being housed in a single pavilion, but the project, with a construction cost of nearly $4 million, largely funded by municipal capital expenditures, could have been subject to shifting budgetary realities. “We decided to turn this into five discrete open-air buildings that could be completed in phases, should funding be cut,” explains Sanders Pace principal Brandon Pace. “They are also lighter-weight and have less of an impact infrastructurally on the landscape.”

During the day, visitors can rent numerous items from the vendor kiosk, such as paddleboards, floaties, and kayaks, which helps to reduce litter associated with abandoned lake toys. Since opening last summer, the renewed Augusta Quarry has been enthusiastically received by thousands luxuriating in the venue for leisure. If all goes as planned in the years ahead, they will gain additional access to trails and sites throughout Knoxville’s Battlefield Loop.

Image courtesy Sanders Pace Architecture