By Cari Gervin

Community News Writer

After months of planning and then tweaking those plans, the final design of Althaus Park has been unveiled.

The reimagining of the park behind the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club will

add a paved pathway, an outdoor amphitheater and lots of

landscaping.

Natalie Phillips of Fiddle-heads Native Landscaping won the $1,000 competition to

redesign the park, sponsored by the Signal Mountain Beautification

Committee.

Mrs. Phillips, the daughter of Town Manager Diana Campbell, was the only person who submitted an application.

She has been working with Anne Leonard, the chair of the SMBC, a division of the Signal Mountain Garden Club, since last fall to perfect the design,

which she presented at the June 21 meeting of the Garden Club.

"My main objective is to unify the park," Mrs. Phillips explained to the group.

The $20,000 plan was designed to be implemented in stages, Mrs. Phillips said. Shrubbery planting could start this fall, and the path could follow at a

later date.

Mrs. Phillips noted that while the large amount of plantings will be expensive at first glance, the plants will be native to the community and mountain and

will require minimal irrigation and weeding. At this point, all of the funding is set to come from donations from future fund-raising. Mrs. Leonard

encouraged participation from other mountain community groups (the Lions are already planning to contribute).

"We want everyone to be involved in this," Mrs. Leonard said.