If you’ve been following along with the Food Project over the years, you’re probably familiar with what we mean when we say the Community Farm at Mill Ridge. Together with our community of gardeners, we have been growing food on about three acres of land at Mill Ridge Park since 2019. But earlier this fall, the park — all 622 acres of it — officially opened to the public.
The mayor, city council members, park leadership, students, artists, and community members gathered to commemorate the park’s opening on August 16 with a bell-ringing ceremony. Different stakeholders spoke to a large crowd about the history around, development of, and vision for the park. Each of them noted the ability of green space to bring people together and create community connections.
“With so many impressive tangible assets here, we find the greatest delight in using those assets to create intangible assets: things such as a healthier and safer outdoors, bringing a diverse group of people together, having a sense of unity and belonging in southeast Davidson County,” said Wesley Trigg, Friends of Mill Ridge Park board president. “It’s what we like to call at Friends of Mill Ridge Park a quality of life.”
“This is a place for our entire community,” added Joy Styles, the council member representing district 32, where Mill Ridge Park is located.
The morning included a brief history of the land, including an acknowledgement of the seven indigenous tribes native to the area and the vision of Mary Moore, whose family had run the property as a family livestock farm since 1919. In 2015, Metro Parks of Nashville purchased the Moore Farm and six other properties to create what is now Mill Ridge Park.
“It was incredibly important to Ms. Moore that the land we’re standing on today be returned to the public for community use,” said Darrell Hawks, executive director of Friends of Mill Ridge Park. “She wanted her family’s memories to be preserved, and future generations to have a place to make their own memories.”
After the remarks concluded, a group of students rang a bell placed in the center of the park, while guests of the ceremony chimed in and rang individual bells handed out at the entrance. The moment marked the opening of the park to the public! Folks dispersed to check out the space’s hiking trails, a musical art installation in partnership with the Cane Ridge High School marching band, and the park’s centerpiece: a playground with a five-story enclosed slide.
From the beginning, the park has truly been designed to meet the needs of its diverse community. An extensive community listening process, including several open houses and creative labs, allowed local residents opportunities to provide input and share ideas for what they wanted to see from the park. And the result has brought many of those ideas alive, including the implementation of the Community Farm at Mill Ridge as a response to wide interest in urban agriculture.
If you haven’t gotten the chance yet, we encourage you to go explore all that Mill Ridge Park has to offer — as the month winds down, they’re offering costume contests, trail clean-ups and more — and if you haven’t made it out yet, join us for a garden workday at the Community Farm!
