MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — For Lisa Cisco, coming to Cannonsburgh Village isn't just about revisiting the past, it's about protecting this ode to Murfreesboro's founding for the future.
"The house in the very front, that they use as a visitor’s center, my family, we lived in that house," said Cisco.
Last year, she launched a grassroots campaign against a plan to bring an independent minor league baseball team to Murfreesboro.
"We're not against baseball, we just don't want Cannonsburgh to be replaced by that," she told NewsChannel 5 last September.
To be clear, team ownership at the time insisted Cannonsburgh Village wouldn't be impacted by the ballpark project.
"When you come here, the thought of walking from the square through Cannonsburgh to a stadium makes it uniquely somewhere in America," said Jason Rose, in an interview last year.
Now, Lisa has changed teams, so to speak. She's still all about saving Cannonsburgh and is putting her support behind the project now that she's convinced the village won't be replaced or relocated. In fact, the ballpark will incorporate the bicentennial celebration of the founding of Murfreesboro.
"Going through that village will be the entrance to the ballpark," said Cisco. "They’re going to have people enter over the bridge that’s there that got moved from the Smyrna area."
We won't be getting a first pitch anytime soon. The city of Murfreesboro will have to approve the location and funds to build the stadium. "It will be a public-private partnership where the baseball team will become a renter of that stadium," said Cisco.
According to a release from team ownership, the proposed stadium would seat about 3,500 people.
"[It] would serve as a gathering space for the area with the ability to host concerts, church services, special events, and youth sports in addition to professional baseball. The result would be new business, tourism, and affordable recreation options for the community. Average baseball ticket prices during the summer would be about $12," according to Mike Scerbo, a spokesperson for the ownership group.
If this plan does get around the bases, Lisa will be rooting it on.
"I really think if we want to save Cannonsburgh, this is going to be the best thing," she said.
She thinks a whole new audience will come visit Cannonsburgh before a game, and will ensure its preservation.
"There’s a lot of people that have lived here a long time, they don’t even know what that is," said Cisco.
And if that can happen, that may even change her mind about the sport itself.
"I think I might become a baseball fan," she said.
Cisco says official renderings of the proposed stadium will be released next month. The team will also announce an official competition to name the team, sometime soon.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
