COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation is trying to raise more than $1 million to buy Tennessee’s largest privately owned waterfall and its director hopes the falls will eventually become the centerpiece of a new state park.
The Cookeville Herald-Citizen reports the foundation has the one-time option to purchase 186 acres at Cummins Falls, just northwest of Cookeville in Jackson County.
“It’s fabulous. It’s just wonderfully beautiful,” said Kathleen Williams, the foundation’s executive director. “If you want to feel what heaven feels like brought down to earth, go swimming at Cummins Falls.”
Travel & Leisure has ranked it as one of the 10 best swimming holes in America.
Not long ago, it seemed there was no chance to save the falls for public use. Williams previously met with a developer who told her he planned to put 80 riverfront houses on the property.
“When he said that, I cried right in his face,” Williams said. “I thought the falls were lost. But the project went belly up.”
After that, the land was auctioned, and foundation supporter Glenn Hall purchased it on the organization’s behalf for a little more than $1 million. The foundation has until June 16 of next year to pay him back.
Williams said the foundation has already raised more than $300,000 and hopes to raise $1.3 million total. She expects the campaign to take two years.
“The main thing, if you love Cummins Falls, is to let the governor know that it ought to be a state park,” she said. … “We don’t have approval yet to sell it to the state or to make it a state park or natural area. But it’s a world-class wonder and could bring visitors from all over the country to that part of the world.”
In the meantime, the foundation is trying to spread the word about the falls and efforts to preserve them for the public. The foundation kicks off its campaign this Saturday with hiking, swimming and picnicking at the site. The event is members-only, but any donation to the foundation makes someone a member.
The group is also offering a series of public hikes the first Saturday of each month beginning in October. Preregistration is required. For more information, call (615) 386-3171.
“We’re doing everything we can to spread the word,” Williams said. “I’m so thankful we’ve had this chance, and I hope people will dream big about what ought to happen there, because this place deserves it.”
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On the Internet: http://tenngreen.org
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Information from: Cookeville Herald-Citizen, http://www.herald-citizen.com/