We were over at the park walking pupster yesterday evening and were happy to see that the dog waste stations donated by the Mrs. have finally been installed.

Read more about the project and the history of Springbrook Park...

We noticed a red X painted on the ground a couple of weeks ago, the first sign of progress. Then earlier in the week there was a post mounted in cement. Then yesterday the waste station was there. Apparently they work on Saturdays because it wasn't there Friday evening.

As you can see in this photo, at least one other person had already used it. These are handsome, low-maintenance units, made of synthetic wood from recycled plastic.

The Mrs. first contacted Blount County Parks and Recreation about the project back in April. Executive Director Joe Huff said they would be happy to work with her. He explained the cost and said that if she would purchase the waste stations the County would take care of the installation, supplies, and upkeep.

We met with Joe in May to scout out locations for the waste stations at Springbrook Park. We decided on one at the lower end (pictured above) and one on the upper end (pictured below) at the trail intersection near the rock garden/fountain. At that meeting, Joe said the cost had gone up a little but said they would stick to the original cost quoted to the Mrs. and make up the difference.

Prior to this, there was one dog waste station at the parking lot near the gym and large pavilion. Someone told us a week or so ago that it had been vandalized. Sure enough, yesterday we saw that some civic minded genius had stolen the little box that dispenses the plastic bags. What's wrong with people? Hopefully they will get it fixed soon, but apparently it takes a while to get the things ordered. They are custom made by Great Lakes Specialty Products in Wisconsin.

Anyway, thanks to Joe Huff and Blount County Parks and Recreation for working with us on this to help make Springbrook Park a little cleaner for everyone. We hope folks will notice the new dog waste stations and use them to clean up after their pets.

If you haven't been to Springbrook Park, it's a great place for a picnic or an evening stroll in the shade or even a serenade. We go over there just about every day in the summer to walk pupster because it's about five degrees cooler there.

Springbrook Park grew out of the original plan for the City of Alcoa, the first planned community in the State of Tennessee. Alcoa was founded by the Alcoa Aluminum Company, which began buying land and river rights of way here in 1910 and completed construction of the first plant in 1914.

The company laid out a plan for the City of Alcoa to provide housing for workers. The original plan covered five and a half square miles with an expected population of 10,000 people. It was designed by E.S. Fickes, the company's chief engineer and R.F. Ewald, a hydraulic engineer at the company.

V.J. Hultquist (ed. note: any relation to South Knoxville City Councilman Joe Hultquist? ed. update: indeed, Joe Hultquist is V.J. Hultquist's grandson, see Joe's comment below), manager of Alcoa's construction division and the City of Alcoa's first city manager, championed the city's parks and recreation system. The initial city plan called for one acre of park space per every one hundred residents, which led to the creation of Springbrook Park in 1918. The pool was added in 1931.

(Source: The Story of Alcoa, Celebrating 75 Years of a Vision, 1994)

Today the park is maintained and operated by Blount County Parks and Recreation as part of Blount County's outstanding and well-run park system.

For others like the Mrs. who don't already pay enough taxes and are looking for more ways to donate money to the government, Parks and Rec has a program that lets you donate a tree or a park bench and have a memorial plaque installed. There are hundreds of trees and park benches donated by citizens all over Blount County parks. Here are some examples:

And if you're looking to relocate, you might want to take a look at the Springbrook neighborhood surrounding the park. There are houses in a wide price range, from nice little 2BR cottages on up to 5BR brick ranchers, and everything in between.

Most are only a short walk away from the park and the pool, and some are right across the street from the park. There's a nice looking restored two story FSBO that's only steps away from the park. They're asking $171,000.

And you couldn't ask for a more convenient neighborhood. The elementary and high schools are both within walking distance. There's plenty of shopping and restaurants nearby, most of which you don't even have to get on Alcoa Highway to get to. It's convenient to Downtown Maryville and not far to Downtown Knoxville. The airport is about two minutes away, and I-140/Pellissippi Parkway is less than five minutes away if you need to head out West for some reason. Townsend and the "quiet side" entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National park are only about 20 miles away.