MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WGNS News) - A proposed $8.5 million land purchase by the City of Murfreesboro could eventually help make room for a new interstate interchange, another major roadway connection and a future Rutherford County high school. The proposal centers on property known as the Dismukes property, with city leaders looking to buy the land now and preserve it before future development limits their options. See more information here (PDF).
A major reason for the purchase involves the long-planned Stonesbattle Parkway corridor. The larger transportation plan calls for a route stretching from the Walter Hill and Memorial Boulevard area near Interstate 840, westward to Interstate 24 and eventually Blackman Road. Plans call for a possible new interchange with I-24. If a full interstate interchange is not approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the resolution says the City would instead support a grade-separated connection between Stonesbattle Parkway and Blackman Road, providing another route for motorists in the Blackman and Florence communities.
But transportation is only part of the proposal. The Rutherford County Board of Education is also considering the Dismukes property, or part of it, as a possible location for a future high school. Murfreesboro's plan is essentially to buy the property now, reserve the land needed for roads, utilities and a possible interchange, and protect the remaining suitable acreage for a future school. That could prevent the land from being developed for something else while the County waits for money to build another high school.
Importantly, Rutherford County has not yet approved funding for a school on the property. Under the proposal, Murfreesboro would initially purchase and hold the land. If funding for a future school is later approved by the Rutherford County Commission, the City could transfer the school portion of the property to Rutherford County based on the City's costs of purchasing and holding that land. Until school funding is approved, the resolution says the plan would preserve the property without requiring Rutherford County to pay for the land now.
There is also a sewer component that could potentially free up even more land. Murfreesboro plans to make sanitary sewer service available to the Dismukes property if the future school receives funding. Without City sewer, a substantial amount of property could be needed for an on-site wastewater disposal system. City officials say connecting the property to centralized sewer would preserve more acreage for the school campus, transportation improvements and other public uses.
That sewer proposal also involves the nearby Heatherwood subdivision. Murfreesboro has been talking with the Consolidated Utility District of Rutherford County about potentially moving Heatherwood customers from their existing septic tank effluent pump system to the City's sanitary sewer system. If that happens, the City could then pursue acquisition or incorporation of an approximately 35-acre community drip field south of and adjacent to the Dismukes property. That 35 acres could potentially become part of the future school campus as well.
City officials say coordinating all of this in advance is important because the same general area could eventually be needed for several major public projects. Building a school without first determining where the interstate interchange, Stonesbattle Parkway, connecting roads and utilities will go could create expensive problems later. The City's resolution specifically warns that poor coordination could increase future land and relocation costs, create conflicting public uses or even make safe access to a future school more difficult.
The proposal is also designed as a partnership between Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. The City is asking the Rutherford County Commission to adopt its own resolution supporting the plan. That would signal support for preserving the transportation corridor and interchange area, reserving enough property for a future school and coordinating future infrastructure improvements between the City, County, Rutherford County Board of Education and Rutherford County Schools.
In simple terms, the City is proposing to spend $8.5 million now to keep its options open for several projects that could be needed years down the road. Some of the property could become part of a new road and I-24 interchange, another portion could eventually become a high school, and sewer improvements could potentially add another 35 acres to the future school campus. None of that means a new high school or interstate interchange is guaranteed, but the resolution is designed to make sure the land is still available if and when those projects move forward.
