What does it cost to keep a flat piece of ground in Apison open? This summer Hamilton County found out. It started with a church tract offered at $750,000 and ended at $1.25 million, because a developer wanted the same land and kept raising its offer.
On August 5, 2026, the County Commission voted unanimously to buy 8.5 acres from Apison Baptist Church for a future community park, plus 1.72 acres for future parking. The vote got covered as a parks story. The way the deal came together matters more for anyone living off Apison Pike or Old East Brainerd Road. In Apison right now, open land goes to whoever pays the subdivision price, and this time the county was the buyer that paid it.
The Price Went Up Twice
Commissioner Lee Helton told the commission a developer was also interested in the property. He described it as a level tract with high-density zoning. In a part of the county known for rolling terrain, a flat, buildable parcel near the community's center doesn't come up often, and both bidders knew it.
County Mayor Weston Wamp walked commissioners through how the price climbed:
- The county first tried to buy the land without the church parsonage, at a time when the rest of the property was offered for $750,000.
- The developer then offered for the land and the parsonage together.
- The county agreed to $1.2 million.
- The developer raised its offer to $1.25 million.
- The county matched it.
Some commissioners said they had taken a number of calls from people concerned about the price. Commissioner Steve Highlander answered them directly: "That is a high-cost area. That land is very valuable. It's the going price."
That "going price" was set by the other bidder. The county wasn't paying a parks-department appraisal of what recreation land is worth. It was paying what a builder thought the ground was worth with houses on it. Wamp's July announcement said he and Helton had been looking "over the last four years" for land in Apison for park space and youth sports fields. Four years of looking ended with one parcel and a competing offer to beat.
How a $1.25 Million Park Gets Paid For
The full purchase price isn't the county's final cost. The deal includes the church parsonage, a brick ranch home of about 2,000 square feet that commissioners said is in good condition and worth roughly $200,000. The county plans to sell it to recover part of the cost.
County finance director Lee Brouner laid out where the money comes from, and the commission passed an amendment sending the parsonage proceeds back where they started:
| Source | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| County fund balance | $200,000 | Expected to be refilled by the parsonage sale |
| Recreation capital project fund | $426,000 | Money already set aside for parks projects |
| 2024 bond fund | $624,000 | The balance of the $1.25 million |
| Purchase total | $1,250,000 | Includes 8.5 acres, 1.72 parking acres, and the parsonage |
If the parsonage sells near its estimated value, the county's net cost for the park land and parking lot comes to a little over $1 million. That's still well above the $750,000 the land was first offered at without the house. Most of the difference is what it cost to outbid the developer.
One Corner of Old East Brainerd Road
The new land sits on a stretch of road many Apison residents already know well. Apison Baptist Church's address is 11127 Old East Brainerd Road. Apison Park, which the Times Free Press called the only park in Apison, is next door at 11218 Old E. Brainerd Road. Across the street is Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department Station 3 at 11115 Park Place.
Local 3 News called the existing park "small," and said the new land will sit in front of the Apison Volunteer Fire Hall and next to it. Commissioners brought up the location more than once. Highlander pointed out that a park across from the county's emergency station means a quick response if a child gets hurt.
The location changes what Apison gets. A park somewhere else would have meant a second, separate destination. Land next to Apison Park means the county can grow the park the community already has into something bigger, on the same corner as the church and the fire hall. The county release says the plan would preserve nearly 10 acres in total.
The Fields Apison Has Been Borrowing
The county's argument for paying full price came down to youth sports. When the proposal was announced on July 15, Wamp said Apison has had no youth sports facilities, so families travel to Ooltewah. He added that Ooltewah "didn't have a fields for their league to begin with," and said the county has been working with the youth association on the problem.
Local 3 News reported that Wamp described the future park as bringing youth soccer, softball, and baseball to Apison. Fox Chattanooga described the proposal the same way: an 8.5-acre community park with room for future youth sports fields.
The 1.72-acre parking parcel tells you what kind of park the county has in mind. A neighborhood playground doesn't need its own parking lot. A place where several teams' families show up on the same Saturday does.
Wamp explained the gap with population numbers. About 1,000 people lived in the Apison area 25 years ago, he said, and about 5,000 live there today. In a community that small, nobody planned for league fields because there weren't enough players to fill them. Now there are, and the land that could have held fields has mostly gone to housing. Helton said it in the county's release: "Apison has grown rapidly over the past several years, and opportunities to create new parks have become harder to find."
Commissioner Mike Chauncey put it more briefly at the August vote: "It's essential that we carve out green spaces." Helton also read a list of parks and recreation sites to the commission and said his part of the county has few of them.
What Hasn't Happened Yet
The August vote approved the purchase. As of October 5, 2026, the public record doesn't show much past that. Here's where things stand from the reporting so far:
- Timeline: WDEF reported in July that the county had no exact timeline for finishing the project but wanted to start as soon as possible. No construction schedule or opening date has been announced since.
- Design: No site plan, field layout, or list of amenities has been released.
- Public input: No community meeting or survey about the park's design has been reported.
- Closing: Reporting has covered the approval but hasn't confirmed that the sale has closed.
- The parsonage: The sale is planned, and no report has confirmed it's done.
- The existing park: Hamilton County Parks and Recreation has a page for Apison Park, but it doesn't currently list amenities, so there's no official inventory yet to show how the old and new parcels will fit together.
Early figures in the coverage didn't match. Before the vote, the Times Free Press described the purchase as about 10 acres, and WDEF reported a total of $1.5 million. The figures the commission approved on August 5 are 8.5 acres for the park, 1.72 acres for parking, and $1.25 million. Those match the county's own "nearly 10 acres" description of the combined site.
The next sign of progress will most likely come through the County Commission or Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, either as a design contract, a construction item, or a notice about the parsonage sale. Until one of those appears, the fields are a plan. The land itself has been bought and won't become a subdivision.
At The Robinson Team, we follow how land decisions like this one change Apison, from what gets built on Old East Brainerd Road to what it costs to keep a level acre open. If you live nearby and want to know how a project like the new park could affect your own property plans, contact us. We're glad to talk it through with you.
