The September 11 groundbreaking at the old Batey Farm marked the start of construction for the City of Hendersonville. It was not the start of construction for Heritage Park as a whole. On the 38-acre hill above the farm, volunteers had already built hiking and mountain-bike trails and a parking lot before anyone from the City picked up a shovel.
That changes the question many people on the Indian Lake Peninsula have been asking. Most of the park isn't waiting on construction anymore. The two halves of the property are waiting on two different things. The hill is waiting on a change of ownership. The lower field is waiting on the restrooms, parking, and paths the City needs before its insurer will let it open the gates.
Two Properties Under One Name
Heritage Park at 119 East Drive, just off Indian Lake Boulevard, covers 73 acres. Those acres were bought as two separate tracts, by two separate buyers, in the same year.
The City paid $3 million in 2018 for the lower 35 acres of the Batey Farm. The Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula, a nonprofit founded in February 2018, bought the upper 38 acres for $1 million, raised in private donations from more than 800 community members. The City calls it one of Hendersonville's most significant community-led preservation efforts. It describes the land as the last major undeveloped open space on the peninsula.
The split goes back to 2016. That year the property owners submitted a plan for about 150 homes on the site. Andy Gilley, the Ward 4 alderman at the time, told the Hendersonville Standard that very few residents in his ward wanted that, and that the purchase debate that followed was "heated" and took about two years. Gilley is now Hendersonville's Parks and Recreation Director. At the groundbreaking he called it "a full-circle moment."
The two owners have moved on separate schedules ever since. Here is the order of events, based on local reporting and the Sumner County Historical Society:
- 1964: Ed and Betty Batey build their home at 120 East Drive and set aside 35 acres around it.
- 1967: The Bateys buy the hill that later becomes known as Batey Hill.
- 2016: The family sells the farm and the hill, and a plan for about 150 homes reaches the City.
- 2018: The City buys the lower 35 acres, and the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula buy the upper 38.
- 2022: The Friends receive a $250,000 recreation trails grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
- August 2026: The Friends report that the hill's trails and parking lot are complete.
- September 11, 2026: The City breaks ground on the lower 35 acres.
The Hill Went First, and Volunteers Built It
Work on the upper 38 acres was "a 100 percent volunteer effort," according to Jeff Cundiff of the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula. Community members and organizations built the hiking and mountain-bike trails with donated labor. The group describes the hill as the wooded parcel behind Stuart Drive, Trail East Drive, and Nathan Forest Drive. On Trailforks, a crowdsourced trail map, users have logged about four miles across the site under names such as Double Flume, Switchback Mountain, and Lower Field CCW Loop. Those names come from the mapping community. They are not City signage.
The state grant paid for the parts volunteers couldn't build by hand. In Cundiff's words, those were "a paved, accessible trail leading to the top of the hill, along with a parking area, benches and signage." In August he said all of the trails and the parking lot on the upper portion were finished, and the group's remaining work on the hill was close to done.
The Friends also worked with TennGreen Land Conservancy to put a conservation easement over the upper 38 acres. Cundiff called it "the completion of a key commitment we made to the community at the very beginning of the project." The easement matters because the hill is about to change hands. Once the trail system is complete, the Friends plan to donate the land to the City. The easement was in place before that handoff.
As of mid-September, the transfer hadn't happened. The Friends still own the hill. In August, Cundiff said the group was "looking forward to finalizing that transfer in the near future." Gilley explained in 2025 what the transfer means for the City. "That'll provide us with 38 acres of biking and walking trails that we've never had before."
Why the Lower Field Waited
The City's own 35 acres sat untouched long after the purchase. In August, Gilley answered the question directly:
"Everybody's been itching to get this park open to the public and wondering why it's not open. There's a lot of things that have to be put in place so that our insurance provider will allow us to open to the public."
He gave a second reason too. The City wanted to pay for this first round of improvements entirely with grant money, so it wouldn't have to put more of its own money in. He added that this didn't rule out City spending on the park later. Gilley has made the same point about how he approaches the job. At the groundbreaking he said one of his priorities as director was finding a way to build Heritage Park with grant money.
The funding numbers differ slightly depending on who is talking. In August the Standard put construction on the lower 35 acres at about $2.8 million, "completely funded through state grants." The City's September 18 release uses the same $2.8 million budget but says it is supported by state grant funding and local investment. At the groundbreaking, Gilley said $3.3 million in state grants had been awarded for the park's construction. Either way, the slow pace came from paying for the park with grants, not from a lack of interest.
Daniel Jackson, a recreation consultant with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, spoke at the ceremony on September 11. He said "this is what TDEC and the conservation movement is all about," meaning protecting properties like this one so people can still enjoy them years from now.
What Phase One Puts on the Lower 35 Acres
Phase one is the infrastructure the insurer needs, with a few extras for families. Combining the City's release and the Standard's coverage, it includes:
- A welcome center with restrooms and a meeting room
- A parking lot and site improvements
- An inclusive playground
- An ADA-accessible concrete walking loop
- An event pavilion behind the historic barn
- Renovation of the barn itself
Restrooms and parking were the items cited in earlier reporting when the property was described as not officially open. The hill now has its parking. The lower field is getting the restrooms.
The plan also leaves things out on purpose. Heritage Park is designed as a passive park, with no baseball, softball, or soccer fields. Gilley said the community asked for it that way. He also said trails came up as a need in the City's parks master plan about five years before that 2025 interview, because Hendersonville has a large, active biking and hiking community. Gilley noted at the groundbreaking that new parks are rare in Hendersonville. The City has broken ground on a new park three times in 15 years, counting Volunteer Park, the rugby facility, and now Heritage Park.
The Farm Underneath the Park
The barn at the center of the renovation belonged to a family, not an institution. According to a 2018 account from the Sumner County Historical Society, Ed and Betty Batey built their home at 120 East Drive in 1964, set aside 35 acres around it, and raised five children there. The family kept horses and cattle and added the barn a few years after the house. Ed and his brother Tom founded Batey Construction. The Bateys bought the hill in 1967, and the family sold both the farm and the hill in 2016.
So the City is turning the family's 35 acres into the park's main entrance, built around the barn. The hill the Bateys added three years after building the house is the part preserved by more than 800 donors.
Mayor Jamie Clary said at the groundbreaking that he hopes people will remember the park "was not something that the city started, it was not something that the city accomplished, it was something that the residents here did." Cundiff put it in years. "Eight years ago – nine years ago almost – this property could've had a very different future."
What Still Has No Date
Two milestones are still open. As of early October 2026, neither the City's September 18 release nor the Standard's groundbreaking coverage gives a completion or opening date for phase one. No public notice has said which parts of the site are closed while crews work on the lower field. The hill transfer is described only as coming "in the near future," and the trails become City parkland when it happens. Until then, the Friends of Indian Lake Peninsula own the hill, and the City of Hendersonville's news page is where an official opening would be announced.
Parks like this one shape daily life in the parts of Hendersonville that surround them, and our team follows these projects as closely as you do. If you'd like to talk about the Indian Lake Peninsula, or anything else going on in Sumner County, the people at Jetton Real Estate are happy to sit down with you. Contact Us whenever it's convenient.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
