SPENCER, Tenn. – The end of an era came to a close on the Cumberland Plateau as the site of the former inn at Fall Creek Falls State Park now is a clean slate for crews set to begin construction of its replacement in January.
Demolition of the old inn is complete and the first work on a new $29.4 million, 95,000-square foot replacement inn at Tennessee’s second-largest state park should begin in a few weeks, according to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation spokeswoman Kim Schofinski. TDEC oversees Tennessee’s parks.
When state park officials were surveying Fall Creek Falls visitors back in 2013, Tennessee couples from Jacksboro and McMinnville who frequently visit it told the Times Free Press their main complaint was the aging inn, though they loved the setting on the lake.
Renderings of the new inn were released in June. It is expected to be completed in 2020 and will feature lodging, a restaurant and conference center. TDEC Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill said in a statement on the plans that the facility “will serve as a symbol of the commitment by Governor [Bill] Haslam and the Tennessee General Assembly to revitalize our state park system and sustain rural economic development for the future.”
Before the decision was made to build, Haslam attempted to privatize hospitality services at the park, but the facilities were in such disrepair that no for-profit companies wanted them. State building commission members voted to cancel the plan to renovate the inn at their November 2017 meeting. TDEC commissioner Bob Martineau said at the time that the facility’s condition “dictated doing a more complete rebuild of that project.”