Welcome to the South Broad District Study
An effort to establish a public vision for the future of South Broad Street, the Wheland Foundry / US Pipe site, and Southside Gardens Neighborhood.
Chattanooga Design Studio led a public process for the South Broad District because we believe that citizen input is the foundation of all great urban design.
Click below to view the final report, issued on February 19, 2018.
About the Process
In 2017, Chattanooga Design Studio began a planning study of the South Broad District, which includes more than 400 acres just south of Downtown Chattanooga. The study area included the U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundry site, S. Broad Street, Southside Gardens, Market Street, and the area around Howard School. The purpose of the study was to develop a realistic, long term vision for the revitalization of the district. This vision was developed through a public-participatory planning process that involved hundreds of people during the summer and fall of 2017. This site contains the documents produced during that process.
The District is bounded by the Tennessee River, HWY I-24, and the Chattanooga Creek, and includes the former Wheland and US Pipe foundries, the Southside Gardens Neighborhood, and The Howard School.
Historical Highlights of the Area
US Pipe and Foundry Co. was founded in 1887 and established the foundry on South Broad in 1936. US Pipe was recognized as one of the nation's finest iron fabricators.
Wheland Foundry operated in Chattanooga from 1874 to 2003, producing a variety of cast iron products including automotive parts.
The South Broad commercial corridor and and Southside Gardens grew up around the foundries, supporting workers’ families and connecting Chattanooga to communities on Lookout Mountain.
The Howard School is Chattanooga’s first public school, founded in 1865 by the Freedman’s Bureau. It carries a significant legacy from the Reconstruction era and the Civil Rights era. The school moved to its Market street campus in 1954.