For nearly sixty years, Franklin’s focus on historic preservation has remained rooted in our sense of community tied to place and people. Franklin has a strong preservation constituency that works in partnership with many in our community to protect our irreplaceable historic places.

With that in mind, the Heritage Foundation:

• Commends the intentionality for creating spaces that can bring people together from all walks of life. However, given the historic nature of the property and areas around it, how will this property and its intangible cultural heritage be remembered?
• With that same intentionality, we highly recommend the developers of the Middle Eight Project consider all heights and massing: a multi-storied building within a historic space, risks nullifying the integrity of Franklin’s last remaining green gateway into historic downtown and not contextually aligning with the current historic Franklin Road neighborhood.
• The Franklin Road gateway is surrounded by multiple historic properties located on the National Register of Historic Places, including Creekside, Daniel McMahon House, Wyatt Hall, Harlinsdale Farm, the Factory, Ropers Knob, and the Historic Truett House. This gateway could be altered forever by this project and set a precedent for similar projects in the future.
• To ensure preservation of historic resources tied to the cultural landscape of the property, we highly recommend ground penetrating radar and an archaeological survey. With the historic Truett House tied to not only the Battle of Franklin, but occupation during the Civil War, erasure of any resources contained within the ground would leave a lasting impact on future research, preservation of the cultural landscape, and an opportunity to tell Franklin’s whole story.
• Environmentally, flooding concerns due to the potential loss of the natural buffer landscape must be addressed, especially for the current residents of this historic and surrounding neighborhoods.

While the Heritage Foundation supports smart, well-planned growth we also support the preservation of our historic places tied to the architecture and cultural character of not only Franklin but all of Williamson County.

As such, Heritage Foundation requests a primary seat at the table with not only the developers of the Middle Eight project, but all potential developers and city officials to fully collaborate and engage on best practices for preserving our historic places, green spaces, and gateways.

Thus, we can help to ensure vibrancy and viability for all who live here presently and in the future.