State to Help at Franklin

[Dignann]

State grants nearly $1M to battlefield park project

By KEVIN WALTERS

The Tennessean [Nashville, Tenn.]
June 26, 2007

FRANKLIN – The state of Tennessee is now poised to become one the largest investors in Franklin’s Civil War battlefield park.

More than a year after Franklin officials bought the 110-acre Country Club of Franklin, the state's Heritage Conservation Trust Fund today approved a $900,000 grant for the project.

The group’s executive committee approved 3-0 the grant request from Franklin’s Charge, the private coalition of local groups supporting the land purchase.

"We are excited about moving forward on this in the months and years to come," Robert Hicks, co-chairman of Franklin’s Charge, said. "It’s not like Franklin’s Charge won anything today. I think all of Tennessee is a winner today."

This grant nearly equals the $1 million combined in grant money from both the Washington, D.C. based Civil War Preservation Trust and the American Battlefield Protection Program.

The land purchase cost $5 million, with half coming from city public funds and the rest provided by a loan secured by Franklin's Charge. That loan would be repaid by the group through pledges and donations.

Hicks credited the numerous, smaller donations of just a few dollars as being as important to the project as the large grants.

"You still could not have done it without the literally hundreds and hundreds of individuals," Hicks said.

http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/COUNTY090101/70626043

Eric

[boreguard]

Re: State to Help at Franklin

That's impressive ! Hats off to all who coordinated efforts and spent the time and energy to make this come to pass. What a great victory for preservation.
Bully !

[Michael Comer]

Re: State to Help at Franklin

Excellent! Too bad Saturn is doing just the opposite by selling much of their holdings. It serves to offset this bit of good news.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: State to Help at Franklin

Very interesting. There was a "Save the Battlefield" LH on the Franklin battlefield land next to Carnton Plantation over the weekend. It was a Fri-Sat event. The land is an odd parcel, very obviously having been a golf course in the recent past and it retained that artificially cultivated landscape compared to most "battlefield" land. For example, most battlefield parks do not have the remnants of putting greens, tennis courts and a clubhouse still standing adjacent to the grounds where you camp. The tennis courts were used for spectator parking. No swimming pool though a wedding party unrelated to the event came through to use the clubhouse facilities around 3 pm. All this had us scratching our heads.

We were last minute invitees when the event coordinators realized they had zero Federals. Bart Boaz and a few guys from the 1st TN were there. This lack of Federal participation is somewhat typical of events in Middle Tennessee, Alabama and N. Georgia. We will do whatever impression the event requires and are well known suckers for "Save the Battlefield" themed things, so we made it a point to attend despite the obvious red flags. In fairness, I was not led to expect an "immersion event". However, nothing you would hope to avoid was missing. There was a film crew there, but that may have been about something else, a seperate endeavour? So was it a "Save the Battlefield" film or a living history or both? We never quite got the whole story on what the film crew was doing there, but we were still asked to sign the std film rights usage release.

The Tennessean article above tracks with the word we got over a few bowls of toback around the campfire. We heard some state officials were supposed to be coming in by bus to attend the LH and see how the land could be used. The $5 million cost was also mentioned as a potential problem. There were some doubts expressed as far as local political support for saving the battlefield. For example, the neighborhood surrounding the battlefield land/country club (including the Mayor of Franklin) did not favor use by the "Civil War element" and preferred some other kind of park be built on the land. It is an unexpected and pleasant surprise to read of TN's decision in this matter. If what the state officials saw last weekend in any way encouraged the necessary investment for preservation of the battlefield, inauspicious though it was, this bodes well for the future possibilities. Imagine what kind of events could be done out there with a little more effort in event standards, planning and some serious retro-verting of the place back to what it was like 143 yrs ago...this is a greatly encouraging development.

[Charles Heath]

Re: State to Help at Franklin

For example, most battlefield parks do not have the remnants of putting greens, tennis courts and a clubhouse still standing adjacent to the grounds where you camp.

It surely wouldn't be the first time a golf course was incorporated into a battlefield park after serving to protect that which lies beneath the surface. One good example is The Crater at Petersburg.

I also find the comment about indigo anemia in the Volunteer State to be most curious. Maybe I go to the wrong events, but federals aplenty were found at Shiloh, Fort Donelson, TAG, and other events in recent memory.

[coastaltrash]

Re: State to Help at Franklin

'I was not led to expect an "immersion event". However, nothing you would hope to avoid was missing. '

Still going to the wrong events?