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Because golf courses are so rare.... 
From the
Williamson County Review Appeal
Thursday, May 13, 2004
http://reviewappeal.midsouthnews.com...iewStory=21759 (Accessed 13 May, 2004)
Some country club members oppose battlefield restoration
By CLINT CONFEHR / Review Appeal Senior Staff Reporter
Members of the Country Club of Franklin told city leaders Tuesday they oppose a city plan for purchase of their golf course as part of a plan for restoration of the eastern flank of the Civil War battlefield.
“We don’t think the real interest is preservation of battlefield,” group spokesman Mike Benton, 1217 Buckingham Circle, said during the city board’s period for public comment. “We think it’s the preservation of land in front of Carnton (Plantation).”
Rod Heller of Washington, D.C., bought the golf course for $5 million from a developer who allowed it to remain a golf course until prospects arose. The city is planning to sell $10 million in bonds with part of it set aside to help preservationists restore part of the battlefield. A descendant of the McGavock family which built Carnton, Heller is former chairman of the national Civil War Trust. Carnton is operated by the Historic Carnton Association.
“If Heller wants to do this with his money or with private money, that’s one thing,” Benton said. “When you talk about using public money, it changes.”
Benton pointed to a copy of an 1864 map from the Library of Congress and said the battlefield wasn’t as close to Carnton to make a battlefield park.
Robert Hicks, a past Carnton Association president, disagreed and read a statement on the preservation of the eastern flank provided by Ed Bearss, retired chief historian for the National Park Service.
“The ground embraced by the Country Club of Franklin played a crucial role in the Battle of Franklin,” Hicks read to the mayor and aldermen in reply to Benton. “It is one of the very few large pieces of the battlefield ... that retains the integrity of the time and place of its moment in American history.”
It’s wrong to say “for reasons of our leisure and our greed we have deemed this area of the battlefield to be less hallowed — less sacred” than better publicized combat along Columbia Avenue, Hicks read for Bearss.
Bill Lee, 316 Applecross Drive, another spokesman for the country club members, said preserving the golf course would maintain open space, a goal stated by community leaders.
Hicks said visitors looking for the Franklin battlefield are usually directed to historic places such as Carnton Plantation, the Carter House and Winstead Hill since no battlefield park exists here and restoring the eastern flank would enhance heritage tourism.
More than 300 families will pay a “social cost” if the Country Club of Franklin loses its course and the city will lose property and sales tax revenue generated by the course, Benton said. Furthermore, people employed by the club will lose their jobs.
To continue the discussion, members of the Country Club of Franklin invited Mayor Tom Miller, the aldermen and all interested parties to the clubhouse at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Franklin already owns land for parks that haven’t been developed, said Lee, citing the old boot factory on Margin Street and the planned Bicentennial Park nearby.
“Let’s finish what we have started before we tackle more projects that we won’t be able to finish,” he said.
Senior Staff Reporter Clint Confehr can be contacted at clint@reviewappeal.com.
From the
Williamson County Review Appeal
Thursday, May 13, 2004
http://reviewappeal.midsouthnews.com...iewStory=21759 (Accessed 13 May, 2004)
Some country club members oppose battlefield restoration
By CLINT CONFEHR / Review Appeal Senior Staff Reporter
Members of the Country Club of Franklin told city leaders Tuesday they oppose a city plan for purchase of their golf course as part of a plan for restoration of the eastern flank of the Civil War battlefield.
“We don’t think the real interest is preservation of battlefield,” group spokesman Mike Benton, 1217 Buckingham Circle, said during the city board’s period for public comment. “We think it’s the preservation of land in front of Carnton (Plantation).”
Rod Heller of Washington, D.C., bought the golf course for $5 million from a developer who allowed it to remain a golf course until prospects arose. The city is planning to sell $10 million in bonds with part of it set aside to help preservationists restore part of the battlefield. A descendant of the McGavock family which built Carnton, Heller is former chairman of the national Civil War Trust. Carnton is operated by the Historic Carnton Association.
“If Heller wants to do this with his money or with private money, that’s one thing,” Benton said. “When you talk about using public money, it changes.”
Benton pointed to a copy of an 1864 map from the Library of Congress and said the battlefield wasn’t as close to Carnton to make a battlefield park.
Robert Hicks, a past Carnton Association president, disagreed and read a statement on the preservation of the eastern flank provided by Ed Bearss, retired chief historian for the National Park Service.
“The ground embraced by the Country Club of Franklin played a crucial role in the Battle of Franklin,” Hicks read to the mayor and aldermen in reply to Benton. “It is one of the very few large pieces of the battlefield ... that retains the integrity of the time and place of its moment in American history.”
It’s wrong to say “for reasons of our leisure and our greed we have deemed this area of the battlefield to be less hallowed — less sacred” than better publicized combat along Columbia Avenue, Hicks read for Bearss.
Bill Lee, 316 Applecross Drive, another spokesman for the country club members, said preserving the golf course would maintain open space, a goal stated by community leaders.
Hicks said visitors looking for the Franklin battlefield are usually directed to historic places such as Carnton Plantation, the Carter House and Winstead Hill since no battlefield park exists here and restoring the eastern flank would enhance heritage tourism.
More than 300 families will pay a “social cost” if the Country Club of Franklin loses its course and the city will lose property and sales tax revenue generated by the course, Benton said. Furthermore, people employed by the club will lose their jobs.
To continue the discussion, members of the Country Club of Franklin invited Mayor Tom Miller, the aldermen and all interested parties to the clubhouse at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Franklin already owns land for parks that haven’t been developed, said Lee, citing the old boot factory on Margin Street and the planned Bicentennial Park nearby.
“Let’s finish what we have started before we tackle more projects that we won’t be able to finish,” he said.
Senior Staff Reporter Clint Confehr can be contacted at clint@reviewappeal.com.
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