NPS to Study Feasability of Park In Franklin and Williamson County

[Dignann]

National park status possible for county's Civil War sites

Franklin mayor wants former country club land to be focal point

By KEVIN WALTERS

The Tennessean
February 2, 2007

FRANKLIN — National Park Service officials could soon begin a study to determine whether Williamson County's Civil War sites are deserving of national park status.

Franklin Mayor Tom Miller and a park service spokesman both confirmed that an agreement to conduct a study of countywide historic sites is being finalized between federal and city officials.

Once that agreement is in place, the study could begin within the next few months.

"It will begin probably — I'm going to hedge — before summer," Miller said earlier this week. "It may even be before that. … It's done. They are going to do it."

Launching the study would be a crucial step in local officials' plans to lure more history-minded tourists to Williamson County while preserving local history.

The study, which won congressional support in late 2005, would include all of Williamson County's Civil War sites including those found in Brentwood, Spring Hill, Thompson's Station and Triune.

"It appears that everybody is optimistic that is going to be finalized pretty soon," said Bill Reynolds, a park service spokesman.

Costs and a timeline for what is likely a multi-year study have yet to be determined, Reynolds said. Earlier reports put the study's price tag at $300,000.

Franklin officials, such as Miller, are among the study's strongest advocates, as he and others want to make the city's 110-acre property off Lewisburg Pike into the hub for any proposed countywide Civil War park.

Last year, city officials finalized the $5 million purchase of the former Country Club of Franklin, which they intend to re-create as a battlefield park to memorialize the Battle of Franklin.

Miller said that the city's earlier studies about the battlefield park helped move the project higher up in terms of importance.

Details still to come

Miller recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with National Park Service officials to apprise them of the city's plans for the battlefield park.

Those plans took a more definite shape this week after city aldermen gave initial approval to a plan to develop the golf course into the battlefield park.

Aldermen will vote again Feb. 13 on approving that plan's further development.

Meantime, Reynolds outlined how the study might progress, including:

• Determining the national significance of Williamson County's sites compared to other National Park Service sites such as those at Shiloh or Antietam.

• Deciding what about a Williamson County park might be distinctive and unique.

• Spelling out a park's financial feasibility, including acquisition of land, maintenance costs and consideration of visitor access.

The study will also include public meetings about the plan, Reynolds said.

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Eric

[Dignann]

Re: NPS to Study Feasability of Park In Franklin and Williamson County

Study to bring Civil War park to county will cost Franklin $25K

By KEVIN WALTERS

The Tennessean [Nashville, Tenn.]
April 30, 2007

FRANKLIN — A study that will determine whether or not Williamson County is one day home to a new Civil War national park would cost city taxpayers $25,000.

That fee is what the city would pay out of an estimated $110,000 budget to complete a years-long federal study that city officials and city preservationists alike hope establishes a national park encompassing all of Williamson County’s Civil War sites, according to city documents.

On Tuesday, aldermen on the city’s Parks Advisory Committee will vote on approving a contract between the city and the National Park Service outlining the study. The contract would next go to Mayor Tom Miller and all the aldermen for approval.

As spelled out in the agreement, Franklin offiicals would pay $25,000 to supplement the project’s overall budget, help meet the study’s schedule, provide technical assistance and provide other information and services.

The first payment of $15,000 must be made by Aug. 1, and the remainder between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30, 2008.

Ultimately, paying the money will be left up to the city’s aldermen.

“The (city’s) performance and obligation to pay under this agreement is contingent upon annual appropriation by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen,” according to the contract.

If approved, work on the study could begin in late May and then continue through May 2009. This would continue work begun back in 2005 when Congress first
approved going forward with the feasibility study.

If the study is favorable, it would then take Congressional approval to create the park.

While Franklin officials want to see the city’s 110-acre eastern flank of the Battle of Franklin property off Lewisburg Pike become the hub of a national park, the other Civil War sites throughout Williamson County would not be left out of the park.

As spelled out in the study guidelines, all of the county’s Civil War sites including those found in Brentwood, Spring Hill, Thompson's Station and Triune would be part of a national park.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/COUNTY090101/70430055/1164/COUNTY09

Eric

[BumpusTN]

Re: NPS to Study Feasability of Park In Franklin and Williamson County

Monday, 11/26/07

The Tennessean

Ideas sought on national park
Park Service is studying battlefield sites in Williamson County
From Staff Reports


FRANKLIN — As the National Park Service studies the county's historic sites to determine whether they are suitable for national park status, representatives want to hear from residents.

The agency has planned two town-hall meetings — one in Columbia and one in Franklin — to give residents a chance to share their ideas and opinions about a proposed Williamson County national park.




National Park Service representative Tim Bemisderfer said the meetings are planned as informal gathering where citizens can talk in small groups with experts about their concerns and ideas.

"We're kind of out fishing for information," he said.

The agency is completing a feasibility study that could lead to recommending the creation of a new national park focusing on historic sites and Civil War battlefields in Williamson County.

That federal study will ultimately be a years-long project that could end up costing more than $300,000. The potential park would need final congressional approval to be created.

Franklin officials want the hub of the potential park to be the city's Eastern Flank of the Battle of Franklin site off Lewisburg Pike, which leaders are converting into a battlefield park. Other Civil War sites throughout Williamson County would be included as units in the park.

Aldermen unanimously agreed earlier this year to spend $25,000 toward the overall $110,000 cost of the National Park Service study.

Part of the agency's task is to lay out management alternatives for a proposed national park. That could involve management by the National Park System, state and local officials, private sector organizations, or some combination thereof.

Bemisderfer said anyone attending the meetings should understand that the agency is only collecting input for the study. There are no plans drawn up for the park.

"I think the thing we want to emphasis is there really is no opportunity to grandstand," he said. "Right now, there's nothing for anyone to have an opinion about, other than they don't like the National Park Service and we should go away."

Meanwhile, city officials are preparing to commemorate the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Franklin — fought Nov. 30, 1864. The event will be held at the city's battlefield park.



Scott Bumpus

[Dignann]

Re: NPS to Study Feasability of Park In Franklin and Williamson County

National Park Service visits to talk, listen

Conversation key to decision on battle sites' future, representative says

By KEVIN WALTERS

The Tennessean [Nashville, Tenn.]
December 2, 2007

FRANKLIN — The slow march to determine whether Williamson County's Civil War sites may one day warrant national park status moved through Franklin last week as National Park Service officials held an open house of sorts at City Hall.

The informal meeting, held in the city's police training room, brought out about 20 people who could talk one-on-one with NPS officials or leave written comments about the Park Service's Battle of Franklin study.

The event was casual and free of speeches, lectures or any agendas.

"There's no grandstanding," project leader Tim Bemisderfer said about the meeting's casual format. "People will often tell you things in an informal conversation that they wouldn't necessarily say in front of their friends or wouldn't say with the president of a group right there — and those are equally valid opinions."

Parks officials will next take the comments and combine them with their own separate research, which includes examining historical documents, visiting sites and interviewing historians and others about the sites across the county that have been preserved.

City officials envision the eastern flank of the Battle of Franklin site off Lewisburg Pike as any national park's hub and are making separate plans for that site's future use.

In trying to evaluate the county's national significance, Bemisderfer has found one common thread among the people he's spoken to about the county's historical sites.

"They're very proud of (their sites) and rightly so," he said.

Whether Williamson County gets a national park remains months, if not years, away from being known. An early determination of the project's feasibility will be made sometime early next year. If the study recommends a Williamson County national park is feasible, years of work might still lie ahead.

Atlanta-based Bemisderfer cautioned Williamson County might never get a national park, as the project still faces high hurdles to cross. These could include negative study findings to a failure to get approval from Congress to launch the park. There are nearly 400 national parks now.

Half of similar park studies each year — usually numbering between five and 10 — never include a recommendation to start a park, Bemisderfer said.

"There are a lot of ways it couldn't work," he said.

This study will cost $110,000, with the city pledging to pay $25,000 toward its completion. Ultimately work could cost as much as $300,000.

Those who visited Thursday's open house said the project was one they eagerly anticipated for a number of reasons.

"People who haven't seen (a national park) don't know what it can do for a town," said Sam Whitson, a downtown Franklin resident who formerly lived in Gettysburg, Pa.

Banker Dan Beam, 53, wants to see walking trails kept at the eastern flank park, while Martha Thuma, a volunteer at Carnton Plantation, supported that site's preservation.

Lotz House owner J.T. Thompson supports the project, citing Franklin's importance in the scope of American history because of the fighting that occurred here.

"People died so we can have the life we have today," Thompson said.

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Eric

[Dignann]

Re: NPS to Study Feasability of Park In Franklin and Williamson County

Quality of stewardship makes national park unlikely for battle sites

By BONNIE BURCH

The Tennessean [Nashville, Tenn.]
July 2, 2008

FRANKLIN — Don't expect to see federal workers leading tours of Franklin Civil War battle sites anytime soon.

Although he cautioned that a feasibility study is still out on the matter, National Park Service official Tim Bemisderfer told attendees of a Civil War symposium that it's unlikely there will be a new national park in Williamson County.

The main reason: Those organizations that own and operate historical sites, such as the city with Fort Granger, a nonprofit organization at Carnton Plantation and the state with the Carter House, are doing a good job on their own.

"We have had many discussions with these partners, both publicly and in a private setting, and what we've heard is that a lot of these organizations would like to continue managing the properties themselves," Bemisderfer said. "For the National Park Service to have a management presence, you've got to have something to manage, first off."

Development had gobbled up some of the sites related to the 1864 Battle of Franklin, in which thousands of men in the Union and Confederate armies were wounded or killed, as late as the 1980s. But that trend has reversed in recent years, especially with the city's plan to turn the old Country Club of Franklin golf course into a memorial park and the recently announced Franklin's Charge purchase of the Holt property on Columbia Avenue.

"The reason we look at threats is because sometimes we are asked to assess resources for inclusion in the system because no one else can take care of them and they are under great threat of being lost," Bemisderfer said. "The resources in Franklin are being exceptionally cared for by wonderful, qualified groups from across the spectrum, so we don't necessarily feel the need to step in to save a resource."

Lack of contiguity hurts

Another problem centers on how to make a contiguous park area in Franklin. The study found several sites that were deemed "nationally significant," Bemisderfer said, but few are directly adjacent to each other. That would make it difficult to incorporate these individual spots of land into one park from around the city.

That doesn't mean the National Park Service might not have a role in preserving historical Franklin landmarks in the future. Scenarios could include entering Williamson County Civil War sites into a congressionally mandated Partnership Park program or providing technical support and grants through National Park Service programs.

"But it is unlikely that the ownership and management of historic properties here would fit into a traditional National Park Service unit," the official said.

On Dec. 1, 2005, Congress passed the Franklin National Battlefield Study Act to assess what local sites fall under national significance and to what degree the federal government should support those areas.

In the next stage of the study, officials will prepare an interim report, develop and refine management alternatives and publish a draft study followed by a final study later. That professional opinion will then be forwarded to Congress, which may make its own determinations on the study's points.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807020308

Eric