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Be Afraid: Franklin Officials Looking At Battlefield Land Again
Dec. 16, 2003--When Williamson County, Tennessee bought a parcel of land covering the core field where the Battle of Franklin was fought, many assumed that the land would be preserved as a historic site, perhaps with a small interpretive or visitor center to accommodate the hordes who would flock to visit it. Instead the county put a library on it. Since the new library, recently opened with much fanfare and little mention of history, does not by any means take up the whole acreage of the former Battle Ground Academy campus, county officials are now looking at what might be done with the rest of the property.
Several committees are being asked to "give input" on the decision-making process, including the county property committee. There are several buildings from the former school on the land, which the committee has already agreed need to be boarded up to prevent further intrusion by vandals, the Nashville Tennessean's Peggy Shaw reported.
County Mayor Rogers Anderson told property committee members that he wanted to secure the buildings and then 'get on down the road' in developing a comprehensive plan for the use of the BGA land. While making the obligatory nod to its historic significance, he was less than reassuring about the county's willingness to devote any funds to preservation.
'This is such an attractive piece of ground and has a lot of history to it — there's so much we can do with it,' he said. 'We don't have any money in the budget, but you guys can appropriate some to get someone out there to develop a master plan.'
The county board's Battlefield Subcommittee identified the BGA property as land that particularly lends itself to battlefield interpretation. In an unusual collaboration with the City of Franklin, the county hired Mudpuppy & Waterdog Inc., Kentucky public history specialists, to create a battlefield interpretation plan for the site last year.
Despite the two governmental entities spending a combined $35,000 on the plan, the Mudpuppy & Waterdog proposals have been virtually ignored so far.
That plan suggested, among other things, a museum and visitor center in the old BGA library and reconstruction of the Union advance line fortifications in the southwest corner of the property. Such a design would tie in with displays at the Carter House just north of the BGA land, which was the final Union defensive position and the heart of the combat at Franklin.
Although the new library was placed, over preservationists' objections, squarely in the middle of what was the Confederate attack line, enough of the BGA property is left to present a much clearer picture of the Franklin action than is available at the Carter House.
Previous proposals by county officials for the property have included using it for a performing arts center, government offices, an archive, a battlefield interpretation site and a community center. A citizens' group with the Central Franklin Area Plan Steering Committee also identified 14.6 acres that could be used for a mix of single-family attached and detached homes, senior housing or government buildings.
The Franklin battlefield land has been designated a National Historic Landmark.