Hendersonville officially broke ground this week on Heritage Park, a 73-acre stretch on the Indian Lake Peninsula that residents spent years fighting to keep out of a developer's hands. The park sits on land once destined for new homes, and its creation marks the finish line of a grassroots campaign that pulled in more than 800 community members and roughly $1 million in donations.
The fight began in 2017, when a developer proposed building homes on the Batey Farm property, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. Jeff Cundiff told the station the community rallied together once word got out that the land could be turned into a subdivision. Before that public pushback, the property was zoned for standard residential development, which would have allowed a builder to construct between 180 and nearly 200 single-family homes on the peninsula, according to Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula. Residents also raised concerns about the traffic that the development could generate.
The Batey Farm itself carried deep roots in the area. Historical records discuss early Sumner County land grants and the Espey family, per Days Of Old Sumner County.
A Grassroots Push, One Lemonade Stand at a Time
What followed was an unusually broad community fundraising effort. The station's report notes the effort included children selling lemonade and toys to help raise money. Separately, TennGreen Land Conservancy's account of the same campaign puts even finer detail on the scale of that support: the drive raised $1 million in four months between March and July 2018, drawing contributions from more than 850 households across 11 states, with 40 percent of donations at $200 or less and local lemonade stands alone bringing in nearly $1,000.
Andy Gilley called the community's fundraising effort extraordinary, per the same News Channel 5 account. The Batey Farm property ultimately sold for more than $4 million total, with the City of Hendersonville purchasing the lower 35 acres for $3 million and Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula acquiring the upper 38-acre forested hill for $1 million, according to the same TennGreen Land Conservancy project page.
How the City Paid Its Share
To cover its $3 million portion, the Hendersonville Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to set aside 1 percent of the city's annual budget specifically for green space acquisitions, according to Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula. The nonprofit also describes community discussion and support for preserving the area's remaining open land. Hendersonville now owns part of the land outright, while Friends of Indian Lake will turn over its portion to complete the park project, per News Channel 5's report.
The 38-acre forested hill carries an added layer of legal protection. Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula partnered with TennGreen Land Conservancy to place a permanent conservation easement over that portion, ensuring it cannot be commercially or residentially developed in the future. City leaders expect the park to be completed within a year, and officials say Heritage Park will contain nothing beyond the park itself on the now-protected property.
State Grant Adds Fuel for Construction
The project got a financial boost from a $160,000 grant to Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Hendersonville TN Parks and Recreation also lists the project. Plans call for a passive open-space design rather than an active sports complex, with walking and hiking trails, mountain biking routes, natural forest canopy preservation, and open play areas, per a report from Nashville Real Estate / Gary Ashton.
The stakes behind the preservation fight reflect just how fast this corner of Middle Tennessee is growing. Hendersonville is Sumner County's most populous municipality, with an estimated 64,763 residents in 2026, up from 62,113 in the 2020 U.S. Census, according to World Population Review. The region's growth is also part of the broader context discussed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
For the residents who spent years organizing bake sales, lemonade stands, and door-to-door campaigns, Heritage Park stands as proof that a single stretch of farmland could be pulled out of a developer's plans and handed back to the public for good.
