CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- Clarksvillenow.com Civic leaders gathered Thursday to announce a major step toward the goal of honoring Pat Head Summitt, hometown hero and legendary University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach, with a statue and interpretative display along the Cumberland River in Clarksville.

Coach Summitt died June 28 from Alzheimer’s disease, five years after a diagnosis of early onset dementia forced her to retire from her legendary UT coaching career, during which her teams won a record 1,098 games and eight NCAA national titles. On Thursday, which was proclaimed by Mayor Kim McMillan as Pat Head Summitt Day in Clarksville, leaders gathered in Liberty Park to announce a new location and timeline for the project.

Pat Summitt’s Celebration of Life Service to be streamed live Thursday.

The Pat Head Summitt Project Committee and the Mayor unveiled a plan to create the Pat Head Summitt Plaza along an existing walkway that leads to Freedom Point, a large meeting hall that graces the river entrance to the park. The walkway leading to Freedom Point presents an ideal option for the proposed layout. The site also benefits from the mature condition of Liberty Park, which has an established pattern of visitors, and offers parking, accessible restrooms, lighting and security. The plaza will include:

• A bronze statue of Coach Summitt in a classic coaching pose. The idea is for visitors to have an interactive sensory experience as they view the statue, and put themselves in the moment of the master strategist and motivator giving coaching commands to her players.

• A wall framing the Artwork, with an honorary dedication proclaiming the Pat Head Summitt Plaza at Freedom Point. Several attractive plaques with interpretative information about Coach Summitt’s life, local upbringing, career and impact on women’s sports in America.

• A plaque naming donors to the project.

From the beginning, the prime objective of this project was to honor Pat Head Summitt locally and acquaint local citizens and the world with her connections to the Clarksville/Montgomery County community. Coach Summitt was born in Clarksville and grew up on a farm in southern Montgomery County.

“Coach Summitt is so much more than a sports figure,” committee chairman Richard V. Stevens said Thursday. “She is an American cultural icon whose leadership reshaped the sports landscape for women. Her success pulled our society forward, and bent the curve of history toward justice and equality for women athletes. She blazed a trail that resulted in more opportunity for women — more scholarships, better facilities, more well-paid women coaches and ultimately a successful women’s professional basketball league.”

In light of Coach Summitt’s untimely passing, the Liberty Park location means the bronze statute, which is nearly complete, can be dedicated quickly to memorialize and honor Summitt’s legacy. The site is being prepared and the statue will hopefully be installed this fall.

The project price tag is estimated at $250,000, primarily to pay for the bronze statue and finalized project design, city supervised construction services and management, and materials. The committee has raised nearly $120,000 in cash donations. The Midstate community is invited to join hands with the Pat Head Summitt Project Committee and support this drive to create a lasting tribute to this truly inspirational woman.

Tax-deductible donations are being handled through the Aspire Clarksville Foundation and can be made by credit card online at: http://www.patheadsummittpark.com/ . Or by mail using this donor form, available online at:

Click to access 03415_02_MI_3_PHSLP-Donor-Form.pdf

Or send a check, with donor information to:

Pat Head Summitt Project
Teresa Harrington, Director
Convention Visitors Bureau
25 Jefferson Street
Clarksville, TN 37041

Please write “An Aspire Campaign” in the memo line of your check.