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No Joke! Franklin, TN Designated "Preserve America" Community
from CWPT siteMarch 22, 2004--The choice of Franklin, Tennessee as one of only 20 cities in America to be named a "Preserve America Community" is causing people to look at their calendars in confusion, thinking that perhaps they overslept and just woke up on April Fools Day. The alternative, that it was a promotional hoax by the Franklin newspaper, was dashed when the story turned up in other media outlets.
The "Preserve America Community" award is a White House initiative, the Franklin Review-Appeal reports. It is "coordinated" through the combined efforts of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Department of the Interior and the US Department of Commerce.
The involvement of the Commerce Department may go a long way to explain the choice of Franklin as a recipient of this award. Neither the town nor the surrounding Williamson County has ever let the cause of historic preservation impede in even the slightest degree any possible commercial usage of land.
First lady Laura Bush inaugurated the program by honoring eight communities in January. The announcement of the 2004 awards was made by the Historic Preservation Caucus and Preserve America in the Government Reform Subcommittee Room.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is on the Government Reform Committee, but was unable to attend the ceremony since she was with President Bush for a visit to Fort Campbell, KY on the day of the event.
The "Preserve America Community" designation is intended to enhance the winners' visibility, and officials hope, boost tourism. Winners are also eligible to compete for some of the $10 million that President Bush has proposed spending next year to promote historic preservation as a means to economic development. Additional winners may be recognized later this year.
More tangible items for the winning communities include a certificate of recognition from the White House, a Preserve America Community road sign and a listing in the program’s online directory. Franklin officials, including Mayor Tom Miller and City Administrator Jay Johnson, city preservation planner, Shanon Peterson Wasielewski, and Mary Pearce and Nancy Williams of the Heritage Foundation were invited to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to accept the award.
No officials of Williamson County were noted as participating. The county was the entity which purchased the Battle Ground Academy site, the epicenter of the attack in the Battle of Franklin, and then built a new library on the land instead of preserving it as a battlefield park.
The construction of other county office buildings on the remainder of the property is still under consideration.
Local officials said a ceremony and celebration is being planned for March 29 at Franklin City Hall.
Other towns designated as Preserve America Communities were Virginia City, Montana; White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona; Fresno, Calif.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Rock Island, Ill.; Douglas, Grand Rapids and Saugatuck, Mich.; Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Pascagoula and Port Gibson, Miss.; Bristol, Cranston and Warren, R.I.; Smithfield and Williamsburg, Va.; Burlington, Vermont and Cheyenne, Wyo.
The 20 communities were recognized for their "efforts to preserve historic landmarks and promote heritage tourism." Although news reports mentioned that Burlington has made efforts in lighthouse preservation, and Virginia City has recreated Old West venues to attract tourists, no examples of city- or county-funded preservation projects in Franklin were cited.
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