Moccasin Bend mental hospital relocating to 49 acres on Birmingham Hwy. in Chattanooga

From Local 3 News: UPDATE: Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute is officially moving to Birmingham Highway in Chattanooga and is expected to open in about 2030.

State officials announced that a replacement facility will be placed on a 49-acre lot along Birmingham Highway in the Lookout Valley area. It will be close to Interstate 24 and only miles from the current location.

The facility will be located at 1001 Birmingham Highway, previously home to Koch Foods.

The new hospital will hold up to 200 beds, which is 50 more than the current site.

State leaders say the design process will continue through 2027, and construction is slated to begin in early 2028. They expect the construction process to last about two and a half years.

The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Department of General Services searched for a new site for the hospital for more than three years.

Officials hope to complete the project within the original budget of $260 million, which the Tennessee General Assembly appropriated for the move in 2022.

The State Building Commission Executive Subcommittee approved the purchase of the Birmingham Highway land in August 2026, and the purchase was closed in September.

"Immediately, we are getting the architect in writing. It's a Chattanooga architectural firm here. They are starting the design right away. It will take about the next year to go through the design process. We will then pick a contractor ultimately. So in the end in the end, we think the facility should be finished by the summer of 2030,” explained Deputy Commissioner John Hull with Tennessee’s Department of General Services.

“Today’s announcement provides continuity for compassionate care and employment in what will be a modern 200-bed facility,” said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “Simultaneously, our community can move forward with preserving the Moccasin Bend site, converting it into a landmark public historic park for all to honor and enjoy. This is an opportunity to right that past oversight while re-affirming the commitment of the facility to bring hope of recovery to individuals and families in need.”

Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute is currently located at 100 Moccasin Bend Rd. It is a psychiatric hospital serving 52 counties in East Tennessee, offering four psychiatric care units and two sub-acute care units. The hospital has 150 adult psychiatric beds. The institute was founded in Chattanooga in 1961. The Department of Mental Health says most patients have a severe and persistent mental illness. Patients are hospitalized involuntarily during emergencies.

"This building is no doubt state of the art when it was built and opened in 1961. We are a long way from 1961. A former boss of mine said your building is almost old enough for Social Security. It is very inadequate to meet the needs of our patients and staff, very inadequate. We have very limited space in the units, and space is something that you really need when you are treating acutely ill psychiatric patients. So, we could not be more excited about the fact that we will have a new, truly state-of-the-art building in just a few years,” said CEO Mary Young of Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute.

This move comes after a 2024 investigation revealed the current site cannot be expanded due to the presence of buried layers of historic materials.

“Moccasin Bend is both an important part of Hamilton County’s history and our future,” said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. “The leadership of state officials to build a new mental health hospital creates an opportunity to preserve more of Moccasin Bend and advance the long-standing vision for its place within the National Park System.”

Moccasin Bend is an archaeological site of nearly 956 acres, with historic artifacts dating back several centuries. It has become part of the National Park Service unit that includes the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

However, not every local official was in support of the announcement. Chattanooga City Council Member Chip Henderson spoke to Local 3 News after the project plans were announced.

" I am deeply disappointed in the fact that we are just now finding out about this project coming into the Lookout Valley community. The concerns that I have on the impact on the community, the fact that we were not engaged. It appears that all of this process was under the cloak of secrecy... That is not how democracy works… I have safety concerns about how it's going to affect the community. I have traffic concerns about how that's going to impact the community,” said Council Member Chip Henderson of District One on Wednesday.
Henderson shared he has already received phone calls and emails from residents with concerns.

"I have gotten a tremendous amount of calls and emails, obviously responses online to the media post that I made. There is great concern in the community. I'm not sure if they are going to just roll over,” said Henderson.

Hamilton County Commissioner Montrell Besley echoed Henderson’s concerns. The new location for Moccasin Bend would be in his district.

“I found out about this last night while I was attending the city council meeting. I was taken aback because nobody has talked to the current elected officials either in the city or county. I was taken by surprise. The community wasn't talked to or even considered in this matter. I am feeling like the district and the people continue to be out of the loop. The transparency is still missing. The community involvement is missing. For me and my district, I feel very disrespected. I know we always feel left out,” said Hamilton Commissioner Montrell Besley of District 11.

Both Besley and Henderson said they want to work together to hold community meetings with Lookout Valley neighbors, adding they are calling upon Tennessee’s Department of Mental Health Services and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Marie Williams to speak with residents in the area about the project and address their concerns.

There are no meetings scheduled yet for the Lookout Valley area.