Murfreesboro to hold town hall on Town Creek linear park project, other downtown issues

Murfreesboro officials will hold a town hall meeting on downtown issues such as the Town Creek linear park project Aug. 4.

The town hall will be held from 6-7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 210 N. Spring St. in the downtown area, according to a news release from Murfreesboro government spokesman Mike Browning.

The public should enter the sanctuary on College Street, the release said.

There is a handicap ramp right off the sanctuary and will be open to the public. Parking is available in front of the church on College Street and in the rear off Spring Street.

Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland, the City Council and local government administrators will discuss traffic and transportation, crime, homelessness, the Town Creek project, and the Downtown Planning Study, the press release noted.

McFarland told The Daily News Journal that the One East College project across from the First Presbyterian Church is tied up in legal issues because the developer has missed agreement deadlines with the city to build the residential, commercial and parking garage project. The city’s commitment to the project remains preserving the historic First United Methodist Church and bell tower that date back to 1888.

2023 update on One East College project: What’s taking historic church redevelopment so long? Project risks losing $9M property tax rebate

Town Creek project will add trails that connect to city greenway

Murfreesboro officials expect a $22.5 million Town Creek linear park project to open by the end of 2026 in downtown area off Northwest Broad Street.

The project will include trails and daylighting the creek that’s been in an underground culvert for several decades between Murfree Spring at the Discovery Center to Cannonsburgh Village.

Officials in the 1950s and 1960s agreed to place the Town Creek underground as part of a city urban renewal project to create Broad Street and elevate The Bottoms area prone to flooding in a former neighborhood of low-income residents.

The future Town Creek linear park trails will connect Lytle Creek Greenway Trailhead by Cannonsburgh Village to the former U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon trail that’s by Discovery Center at Murfreesboro Spring wetlands, said Sam Huddleston, an assistant city manager who’s scheduled to retire by Aug. 1.

‘It’s going to be a great asset’: Murfreesboro will gain downtown trails along Town Creek linear…