Southeast park would bolster Nashville's open space

The land was for decades her family's farm, 91-year-old Mary Moore said, gesturing to a small pond and rolling expanses of green sprinkled with tiny yellow flowers behind her.

She remembered orchards of apple and pear trees. She remembered playing among the grass, trees and daisies, where she spotted hawks, foxes and ducks.

On Friday, Moore joined Mayor Karl Dean to announce a long-sought park in a fast-growing Southeast Nashville area.

"With a park, all of these memories will stay preserved," she said.

But the best part, Moore said, was that the space could someday be a place for future generations to build memories of their own.

Officials said she was one of nine different property owners, including Metro Nashville, whose land makes up the 591-acre largely open swath near Cane Ridge High School.

The move comes as part of the mayor's efforts to preserve open space while Nashville continues its rapid development.

"I'm happy to see the citizens in this part of the county will finally be getting the green space they deserve," Dean said. "This land is close to schools and neighborhoods, and I expect it to become a major gathering space."

Dean said that he included money for the land purchase in his fiscal 2016 capital spending proposal, which the Metro Council is set to consider next month.

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According to that plan, Metro would spend $14 million, while another $4.1 million for the park would come from the Joe C. Davis Foundation. Dean's wife, Anne Davis, is a trustee of the foundation.

Meanwhile, the Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit that helped design Metro's open space plan, helped negotiate with property owners, some of whom agreed to sell below market value.

Ben Freeland, another property owner and local businessman, said he saw the park as "the icing on the cake" for an exciting week for the Antioch community.

The park announcement followed one by health care giant Community Health Systems, Inc., that it was set to create thousands of jobs in the area.

"There's an underswell of support and commitment to this community," he said. "This park is really going to seal the deal."

Tommy Lynch, director of Metro Parks and Recreation, said the announcement was the beginning of a long process that would include public input and numerous rounds of city approval.

Ultimately, though, he said that "part of the open space plan is conservation of open space."

Bearing that in mind, he said he anticipated that the park may someday include a mix of natural, passive areas and more active parkland with sports fields or other amenities.

The site, near Interstate 24, stretches from Old Hickory Boulevard northwest to the end of Crossings Boulevard. It is comprised of 553 contiguous acres and a 38-acre community park that could ultimately connect to the larger part with a greenway.

If the plan is approved, the new park would be roughly five times the size of Centennial Park on West End Avenue, which is 132 acres.

Dean, who leaves office in September, has completed several major land acquisitions following the open space plan's creation in 2011.

The council made its first open space acquisition under the mayor's plan when it approved the $1.2 million purchase of the 135-acre Cornelia Fort Airpark to expand Shelby Bottoms in East Nashville in 2011.

Later that year, the council bought the 181-acre Ravenwood Country Club in Hermitage for $2.8 million, before acquiring the 600-acre Stones River Farm for $8.2 million. Metro also purchased around 100 acres of land adjacent to a city park in Madison.

The open space plan calls for preserving 3,000 more acres as parkland by 2021.

Joey Garrison contributed to this report.

Reach Jill Cowan at 615-664-2150 and on Twitter @jillcowan.

Quick facts

•The plan calls for a 591-acre park to serve the fast-growing Southeast portion of Davidson County.

•Parts would border Cane Ridge High School and Cane Ridge Elementary School. The park would cross Old Hickory Boulevard near the high school and Interstate 24 and stretch toward Crossings Boulevard.

•Dean included $14 million for the project in the Fiscal Year 2016 capital spending plan set to be considered by the Metro Council. Another $4.1 million is set to come from the Joe C. Davis Foundation.