After nearly two years of politicking, fundraising and community engagement, Nashville became four acres greener last week — forever.
The culmination of months of work by nonprofit organizations, Metro and community stakeholders came to a head on Aug. 30 at East Nashville’s Urban Cowboy. The topic of the toast? A four-acre plot of land less than half a mile down the road — barely a three-minute walk. Until Aug. 24, that plot of forested land connecting Lockeland Springs Park and the Shelby Golf Course was privately owned, and its future was in jeopardy. Now not only is that land owned by Metro Parks, but even if it were to change hands tomorrow, the forest will remain protected forever.
“This community where we are today is the epitome of a place that embodies a neighborhood and a community where nature is close by,” said Noel Durant, addressing a crowd that included Mayor John Cooper, mayoral candidate and Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell, outgoing District 6 Councilmember Brett Withers and incoming District 6 Councilmember Clay Capp. Durant is the Tennessee director of Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit that works to expand parks and green spaces through community engagement and advocacy. TPL spearheaded the effort to save the park, raising $800,000 from the community in six months. That money was then matched by Metro to make the final purchase.
Durant tells the Scene that because TPL is a nonprofit, the group has more flexibility to negotiate and organize the purchase of land. So after buying the four acres on Aug. 24, TPL immediately sold it to Metro — the very same day — but not without first donating the conservancy easement to TennGreen, the state’s oldest land conservancy.
“Worst-case scenario, if the city goes bankrupt and starts selling off land, at least with these four acres, if they end up selling it off, it doesn’t matter,” says Alice Hudson Pell, executive director of TennGreen. “It’s always protected, forever.”
Pell explains that TennGreen now owns a variety of rights that will prevent anyone from changing the forest and natural springs area in any way. The right to subdivide the property, the right to mineral, timber and resource extraction, and the rights to building and tearing down things in the space are all owned by TennGreen. The conservancy even has a trail easement, which means that while Metro is allowed to create trails in the park for people to enjoy, TennGreen will monitor their creation, making sure they aren’t too wide or destructive.
The plot of land itself had been ignored for years, and had become overgrown and neglected. Plans are already underway not only to clean it up, but to put in trails and other amenities. Aside from public figures at the Urban Cowboy celebration, the room was packed with East Nashville residents who were excited about the project. Lockeland Springs Park and Shelby Park are already extremely popular, and this expansion was anticipated by the community long before it was even underway.
“I want to encourage all of you guys to just go down there, go to the park, sit down, sit near where the water is flowing,” said Bo Parr, an East Nashvillian whom Durant referred to as the “fairy godmother of Lockeland Springs Park.” “And just be still and realize the magic that it has to offer. To all of us. And that will keep going forever.”
Though most of Trust for Public Land’s work in the state has been based around Chattanooga, with the success of this project, Durant is hopeful that TPL can continue to have an impact in Nashville.
“The story doesn’t end here,” Durant told the crowd. “This is forever. And it’s amazing the opportunities ahead for this neighborhood.” τ
