In 2016 a multi-disciplinary team led by Sanders Pace Architecture was commissioned to create a comprehensive framework for the future development of a collection of significant cultural and historical sites located just two miles from downtown Knoxville. Working closely with the City of Knoxville, the team proposed Battlefield Loop, a network of recreational assets expanding Knoxville’s “Urban Wilderness” to incorporate a number of industrial relics that are foundational to the city’s early role as a manufacturing leader in the post-civil war New South. As a catalyst project for Battlefield Loop, Augusta Quarry re-positions an abandoned industrial site at the base of historic Fort Dickerson as a public aquatic destination. The quarry, which was founded as the City Quarry in 1950 and then abandoned in the late 1970’s, is now a City-operated crystal-blue swimming hole and a civic staple for Knoxville’s hot summer months. The project program introduced recreational amenities to the park including a vendor kiosk, restrooms and a series of intimate changing rooms near the quarry’s entry. New site circulation includes paths that connect the amenity structures to quarry overlooks and a network of floating docks that host and animate various scales of gathering, recreation and leisure. Architecture and Landscape design are grounded in sustainable strategies that engage the site and visitors through a light touch, allowing the natural beauty of the quarry and civic life to remain a primary focus.