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Photo Credit: Susan Olivas
Sumner County

Heritage Park

PROJECT PARTNERS Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula, City of Hendersonville

TennGreen Land Conservancy assisted with funding the purchase of a 38-acre forested tract in rapidly developing Hendersonville, and protected the land in perpetuity with a conservation easement.

In 2018, the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula (FOFILP) and the City of Hendersonville worked together to purchase the 73-acre Batey Farm, now called Heritage Park, in Hendersonville, Tennessee. As the only remaining open space on the Indian Lake Peninsula, the purchase came with a hefty price tag that exceeded $4 million.

The City of Hendersonville purchased the lower, 35 acres of the historic farm on May 30th, leaving FOFILP to raise $1 million to acquire the upper, 38-acre forested hill before the property’s purchase agreement expired on July 2nd. Thanks to a community of passionate citizens, FOFILP raised nearly all of the remaining funds before announcing a conservation alliance with TennGreen on June 13th. FOFILP’s effort to buy the hill became a movement, capturing the imagination of thousands of people in Hendersonville and enabling the organization to raise the $1 million in the remarkably short period of only 4 months. Over 850 households contributed to the effort; about 40% of those donations were $200 or less.

The movement touched the hearts of many, from donors in eleven other states to local pre-school children doing chores to earn money to take to Capstar Bank in Hendersonville to make their donations in person and numerous lemonade stands that raised almost $1,000.

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“We are excited to add TennGreen’s contribution to the work we have done and to the relationship we have built with the City of Hendersonville to leave a legacy for future generations. The support from this community and the speed that we have displayed in getting this far is unprecedented. We know that working with TennGreen will help us achieve our goals.”

Ken Verble, FOFILP.

“We are excited and proud to collaborate with the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula. We applaud their extraordinary commitment to conserve this community forest for the benefit of all Hendersonville residents.”

Steve Law, Executive Director of TennGreen