Will Rogers, president of the Trust for Public Land, praised Chattanooga’s urban park leadership today and told local Rotarians that Stringers Ridge has wonderful potential to be the city’s future “gem park.”

“Chattanooga has led the way,” he said of many cities’ revisioning their riverfronts and turning parking lots to new parks. “Now there is an enormous opportunity.”

The 90-acre face of Stringers Ridge serves as Chattanooga’s northern background, and its preservation was announced in January by the Chattanooga office of the Trust for Public Land. Money still must raised to secure the plan.

The ridge, endangered last year by condominium plans, concerns historic preservationists because Civil War history and cannon emplacements could be lost if the land is not preserved.

Scenery-conscious groups, too, were worried that the city’s vista appeal would be harmed by development.