As the population in Williamson County continues to grow, the county seat of Franklin is undertaking several major projects to keep up with services needed for the community.
Franklin City Manager Eric Stuckey spoke with the Williamson Scene about several of the efforts that the City of Franklin is either wrapping up or getting underway.
City Hall
One of the most visible projects, considering its proximity to downtown Franklin, the city hall on 3rd Avenue South will likely be demolished in May. Stuckey explained it was built in the early ‘70s as a mall for the downtown area, but it was only in operation as a mall for about eight years before it became a “temporary” city hall. It has clearly become much more permanent than temporary.
“For many years, we've had this sort of underperforming, old, outdated mall property that we're making into a city hall,” Stuckey says. “It's time to have something that fits the community, fits the work we do and serves the community well for the next 100 years. And, that's what we're building.”
The city employees have all moved to temporary locations until the new city hall is complete in 2027.
For now, the administrative offices are located in the FirstBank building on Columbia Avenue. Just next door to that building, development services are located in offices facing 9th Avenue. Around the corner from that at 204 9th Ave S., the billing, licensing and technology departments are in a white house. And finally, the fire administration and inspectors are located in the building where the Franklin Special District Central Office was previously at 507 New Highway 96 W. Public meetings for the Board of Mayor and Alderman and the planning commission are now being held at the Williamson County Administrative Complex where the County Commission meets.
The vision for the building isn’t about just the city hall itself, Stuckey says, but really about reimagining the whole block. There will be a park area on the side of the property near Church Street and the building itself will be designed to work with the character of the square. It will be three stories and include some additional space for potential tenants such as restaurants or retail spaces.
“It's something that the board got excited about in this design process,” Stuckey says. “Because they like the idea of creating some additional activity that wasn't just the civic use, but was a broader commercial use, and it will generate a little bit of rent revenue. It's not going to be a huge financial benefit, but it'll help a little bit.”
There will also be underground parking with nearly 200 spaces. The entire project is expected to cost more than $101 million.
Carter House Visitor Center
The future Herbert Harper Visitor Center at the Carter House State Historic Site is another project that will reshape the landscape of a very notable area in Franklin. The state is providing the funds for the $6.5 million project.
“It's been, probably, a couple decades coming in terms of this visitor center, and for it to be done in the way it's going to be done — envisioned on this site to work with the land, to really highlight the battlefield and the Carter house in a new and important way, I think is great. So, that's awesome and a huge state investment in telling our important historical story,” Stuckey says.
The current visitor center on the property has been in use since the ‘80s, but doesn’t exactly fit with the rest of the property where the historic home sits. The new center will be built into the hillside of the property so that it blends into the surroundings and will be able to hold educational exhibits. Those exhibits will be curated by The Battle of Franklin Trust, which manages the Carter House Historic site for the Tennessee Historical Commission.
“The theme is going to be very simple. They're words that you have all heard. And it's not going to say Battle of Franklin,” Eric Jacobson, Battle of Franklin Trust CEO, said at a groundbreaking for the new visitor center in March. “The theme is ‘All men are created equal.” And we are going to take people from the founding of this country up to the precipice of Civil War. Then we will take them through the war and the battle, and we will bridge the past to today.”
The new building will be named after the late former Tennessee Historical Commission executive director and Franklin resident Herbert Harper.
The Pearl
Just days before the visitor center groundbreaking, the city also broke ground on another project that will be named in honor of a local legend — a future park that is named in honor of the late Franklin Alderman Pearl Bransford.
The Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved the resolution naming the park The Pearlene M. Bransford Complex during its Feb. 11 meeting. Bransford was elected to Franklin’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2007 and continued to serve until her death in 2020.
The park, also known as simply “The Pearl," will be located on 188 acres near Carothers Parkway between Interstate 65 and the Harpeth River. Construction is expected to take about three years, putting a potential opening date in 2028. The park will include five multi-purpose sports fields, an inclusive playground, a building for restrooms and a concession stand as well as sidewalks and trails. The site will also house the city’s Clean Water Facility and a maintenance and storage building for the Parks Department.
The Pearl also sits next to another city project, the Robinson Lake Dam and Park. The city will upgrade the existing dam, add 150 parking spaces and build a park, trail, canoe drop off and boat ramp. That project construction is expected to take about a year and a half.
“Originally that was just going to be a big wastewater plant site. And we said, ‘How can that be more?’” Stuckey tells the Williamson Scene. “Then we bought more land to the north at a great deal, to add passive space to the active recreational park. And so that all that has evolved, and now to see it start is just exciting, because it's been such a long time to build the plan, build the momentum for it, get the funding in place, and now go.”
Bicentennial Park & Harlinsdale Barn
As Franklin begins several projects, it is putting the finishing touches on others. As this story is being written, Bicentennial Park and the Harlinsdale Barn are both coming to completion. Both projects are set for completion in the next month.
The 10-acre space for the Bicentennial Park sits on the edge of downtown between 3rd Avenue North and North Margin Street, surrounded by the Harpeth River. It’s meant to be a community gathering place and provide for entertainment with its open-air pavilion, stage, picnic areas, public plaza, connections to trails.
The city has plans for the Heritage Ball, the Heritage Foundation’s 52nd annual black-tie fundraising event, to be held at the new park on Oct. 4. Stuckey tells the Williamson Scene that it will highlight the new project and showcase it as a gathering place.
“Parks and projects like this help bring the community together, and that's really important,” Stuckey says. “Especially as we do become a little larger community, we want to create that space where it's still a small town and people know each other.”
The purpose of the renovations of the Barn at Harlinsdale Park is also to bring a space for events and educational opportunities to that area, while preserving the history of the barn itself. The park hosts the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival each year, which features a stage called “Midnight Sun” named after the famous prize stallion Tennessee Walking Horse that lived at the former farm.
Hamilton Matthew Masters contributed to this report.