The presidential home of Andrew Jackson is unveiling plans for what it calls a “generational” transformation at The Hermitage.
Leaders at The Hermitage approved a new vision for the historic mansion and grounds on Monday. Plans include:
- a 70,000-square-foot visitor and education center to replace what was built in 1989;
- restored historic spaces;
- an outdoor amphitheater
- a new approach to explaining the site’s significance
The Hermitage says it will shift to focus on its landscape to try transport visitors into history, under a vision known as “held by the land.” This means the new visitor center will be largely built down into the ground to maintain views across the 1,200 acres. Walking paths will be revised with views in mind, as well as a new tree-lined approach.
“The Hermitage is more than a presidential home. It is a place where some of the most consequential and complicated chapters of American history unfolded,” Jason Zajac, president and CEO of the Andrew Jackson Foundation, said in a statement. “We have an immense responsibility to preserve this place while making sure the story we tell reflects the full history of the people who lived, worked and were enslaved here, as well as the nation shaped during Jackson’s lifetime and presidency.”
Tennessee lawmakers have already approved $6 million to begin planning.
The overall project is budgeted for $132 million, to be funded mostly through private donations. The Hermitage notes that it has outgrown its current facilities, which house some 800,000 objects.
As reported this summer by WPLN, The Hermitage has already been updating its tour focused on the enslaved people who lived and worked at the site, and officials now are nodding toward that work as essential to the future of site.
“The Hermitage is an important part of Tennessee’s history and helps tell the story of our state and our nation,” Gov. Bill Lee wrote in a statement.
Courtesy The Hermitage The Hermitage is planning a new visitor center.
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