Chattanooga site named for new Moccasin Bend mental hospital
Construction of a new, $260 million Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute is planned for a site 4 miles southwest of its present location, on an almost 50-acre site between Chattanooga's Lookout Valley community and the Georgia state line.
The plans come more than two years after Gov. Bill Lee said no new facility would be built on Moccasin Bend, considered one of the most historically and culturally important sites in the region.
The new hospital will have capacity for up to 200 beds and will still be visible from Lookout Mountain.
Officials said the project is expected to be completed by summer of 2030. The present facility has 165 beds.
State Sen. Bo Watson, R-North Chattanooga, who along with former state Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, drew praise from Williams for helping secure funding for the project four years ago, also applauded the site selection as a significant stride in mental healthcare.
"Over the last three years, the state, along with our delegation, has evaluated about 127 sites across nine East Tennessee counties to find the right home for this facility," Watson said Wednesday. "And we think this is, and believe that this is, the right home."
The site checked all the boxes, he said, and the project should be completed within the $260 million budget.