FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — Franklin's Board of Mayor and Aldermen has been weighing a key issue this week: how to preserve the past and prepare for the future.

On Tuesday, the BOMA decided to execute a contract with Franklin Preservation Partners for the purchase of historic Creekside House. The city plans to purchase the land for just over $2 million to preserve the centuries-old home and the land surrounding it.

"This is the last undeveloped gateway into Franklin," Roderick Heller, founder of Franklin Preservation Partners, told News 2.

"What makes Franklin so special is open space, the sense of the past, and the 62 acres of which Creekside is more the symbolically important component — it's critical for us to do," Heller added.

"We're talking about preservation and a long-lasting history," Alderman Patrick Baggett said at Tuesday's meeting. "For this board, it's the corner of Mack Hatcher and Franklin Road ... An antebellum 1840s home that was scheduled and slated for over 100 houses, multiplexes and whatever else they were going to put there."

Heller said he hopes the city's decision will set a precedent in a growing Williamson County, which is under much development pressure.

"I think development and preservation can go together," Heller said. "...Development has to be carefully staged to balance the two."

The BOMA has also been trying to strike a balance between the old and the new.

"Let's tonight stop for a moment and celebrate the victory of this piece and acknowledge that we do invest in preserving not only buildings, but we preserve areas — not only areas in the north of the town, but we also preserve areas and roadways, potentially in the future, in the south of the town," Alderman Greg Caesar said at Tuesday's meeting.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/creekside-house/