9/07/2004

Franklin battlefield controversy continues

Today's letter to the editor of Franklin's local paper continues the attack of the golfers. Referring to local battlefield land, per se:

... do something with land already owned for this purpose (Georgia Boot site), or purchase the Pizza Hut and/or Dominos on Columbia Avenue [...] These parcels of land are directly across Highway 31 from The Carter House, where the Battle of Franklin was centered!

This critic has zeroed in on the preservationists half-plan. But the nub of the matter is this:

Exactly three days after closing on my little “retirement” property, it was announced that the course was for sale and whomever could fork over many millions of dollars could buy it. Soon afterward, it was purchased by a wealthy businessman, a descendent of the McGavock family, and then subsequently offered to the “preservationists” and the city of Franklin for $5 million.

I don't believe an owner interested in making a deal with preservationists will walk away from creative financing, if the battlefield interests fall short financially. Just in case, however, the golfers should be raising funds for a counteroffer. It's a free market in property.

If its members lose the country club, they could buy Pizza Hut and offer an exchange of prisoners. (Pizza Hut might be bought for well under $5 million.)

And in the world of ACW battlefield preservation, that kind of screwy dealing would be par for the course.