State grant to help City of Hendersonville with park expansion project

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee’s Office of Outdoor Recreation recently announced $21 million in grants from the local parks and recreation fund.

More than $3 million of that will go to the City of Hendersonville for an expansion that’s been years in the making. That grant funding will help transform 35 acres of Heritage Park , formerly known as Batey Farm park land.

“It’s been a labor of love, and to see this happen is unbelievable,” City of Hendersonville Parks & Recreation director Andy Gilley told News 2. “It’s a 50/50 match grant and our match is actually the value of the land. We’re very fortunate to have a piece of property that is worth that much money so that we can get this funding from the state to build out this park.”

Hendersonville is one of 27 communities across the state to get funding supporting improvements to parks — including $2 million each for Williamson and Bedford counties.

“We don’t have that many passive park spaces that are accessible to everyone,” said Gilley. “We will be able to do things here that the entire community will be able to benefit from, but it will still remain a passive park.”

The effort to expand the park has been years in the making. Members of the non-profit Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula raised $1 million in 2018 to buy the land so the property wouldn’t be turned into housing.

“Receiving state support to accelerate the park’s development feels incredibly rewarding. We knew that creating this park would be a long-term effort, but with the grant and continued support, the project will come to life much sooner than we had imagined. This success is a testament to the strong partnership between citizens, local and state governments, and many other local organizations, all working together to realize the community’s vision.”

Part of a statement from Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula chairperson Jeff Cundiff

Parks and rec leaders the expansion to be complete in two to three years.

“This will be a more complicated grant project than the ones we’ve done in the past because we’re starting from scratch on the property,” Gilley said. “It will take some time, but it’s going to be a lot quicker than it would be if we were trying to do it ourselves as the city.”

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