The Village Green Project photo by Jeff Tryon
~ by Jeff Tryon
Workers are wrapping up a major project at the southeast corner of the Village Green in downtown Nashville.
The project includes a complete renovation and restoration of the old town pump house and the creation of a community“ play space,” taking the area back to its roots as a community gathering place.
“ People played down there,” said Nashville Town Manager Scott Rudd.“ There were horseshoe pits and that’ s where kids played. There are some great Hohenberger photographs of kids playing marbles in the dirt right in the exact spot where we’ re building a play space.”
The new Village Green area will serve as a community focal point as it did a century ago. There is a“ front porch” feel to the large roofed portico that runs along one side of the lot.
“ Really, we hope it’ s used even more by locals than it is for visitors,” Rudd said.“ It’ s the first place in downtown Nashville specifically for kids to play.”
The project has involved the cooperation of different governmental entities, local businesses, and local artisans.
Artisans and contractors were chosen by the Nashville Arts & Entertainment Commission to create a“ fun, interactive play area and gathering space in the center of downtown Nashville,” according to the grant award.
The Beamery, a firm based in Helmsburg, designed elements of repurposed logs to be used as balance beams and stepping logs for kids.
Robb Besosa created benches and game tables out of salvaged wood. His Nashville business, Hoosier Barn and Table Company, saves wood from old barns and cabins and turns them into furniture.
Local metal artist Brad Cox, of Cox Creek Mill, created a metal sculpture border element with interactive panels for kids.
Stone carvers Mary Ann Whitaker and Tommy Thompson will carve some pieces for the space at their nearby studio in Antique Alley.
Dynamic Concrete is pouring, stamping, and staining some concrete on site.
The town pump dates back to about 1890, according to the Brown County Historical Society. It served not only as a valuable water resource at a time when there were no public water projects, but also as a community meeting spot, where the ebb and flow of everyday life in a small rural town could be sampled and gauged.
By July of 1949, the town had installed a new water system fed by Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park. The pump was laid to rest with an elaborate funeral.
The Brown County Rotary Club raised funds for the pump house effort— including $ 3,500 raised in raffle ticket sales, which was matched with a grant from districtlevel Rotary.
The Rotary Club obtained a donated pump, historically similar to the original pump, which could be used in a future water feature. The water, however, would come not from the old well, but from new town water lines which were added.
50 Our Brown County Sept./ Oct. 2017