Norris to dedicate new Creamery Park
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This is the northern entrance to the new Norris Creamery Park, which sits on a 2.5-acre plot along the new East Norris Road sidewalk. - NORRIS RECREATION COMMISSION
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Spencer Boardman, an active Norris community volunteer, will be honored during a ribbon cutting at the new Norris Creamery Park on East Norris Road next Monday afternoon, recognizing his countless hours of work to create most of the park’s amenities. - NORRIS RECREATION COMMISSION
Norris will dedicate its newest city park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4:30 p.m. this coming Monday (Nov. 9) – the Norris Creamery Park and Greenway, which stretches along the east side of East Norris Road.
The ceremony will precede the City Council’s monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in the Norris Community Building.
Because there is no parking available at the site, those coming to the ribbon-cutting are asked to park at the Anderson Crossing shopping center.
The event, coordinated by the Norris Recreation Commission, also will honor Norris resident Spencer Boardman, who has spent countless hours – and a chunk of his own money – working on the site to help create the park’s amenities.
It’s built on a 2.5-acre plot that includes the majority of a new sidewalk built in 2021 to stretch from Dairy Pond Road to Andersonville Highway.
The land was donated to the city in two parcels, one from Jerry and Ellalyn Crossno, and the other from Norris Mayor Chris Mitchell and his wife, Pam Turner.
Jerry Crossno is the son of former Norris Creamery owner and operator R.G. Crossno.
Mitchell and Turner purchased their portion of the land from one of the R.G. Crossno heirs expressly for the purpose of donating it to the city for the park.
The Norris City Council appropriated $10,000 specifically for the park, but Boardman and his wife, May, donated $3,500 to cover the cost of running a city water line to the park.
The Boardmans, who have long been involved in volunteer work for various Norris community projects and upgrades, told the council in October 2024 that they were making the donation because there was no money in the city budget to pay for the water line.
Spencer Boardman, who took the lead on development of Creamery Park entirely as an unpaid volunteer, told the council the line is needed to provide water necessary for construction projects in the park.
Despite the objection of Councilman Chuck Nicholson, who opposed accepting the donation and running the water line, the council gave its blessing to the project and voted to accept the gift from the Boardmans.
Nicholson said he objected to running a water line to the new park because the city’s Parks and Recreation Board had not approved it, and did not believe it would be necessary.
The council appropriated the $10,000 in taxpayer funds for initial development of the park, which already has the new paved sidewalk running through it that was paid for under a different project.
The East Norris sidewalk project, with a construction cost of $317,195, added 2,500 feet to the walkway.
Called the East Norris Sidewalk and Pedestrian Signal Improvements project, 80 percent of the design and construction costs were covered by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, while the city paid a 20 percent share, which totaled $94,327.
The well-manicured concrete sidewalk meanders through the new park like switchbacks on a mountain highway.
The city’s contribution to the park was to pay for trees and benches and a sign to commemorate the former creamery.