Franklin developer and entrepreneur Calvin LeHew — the man behind the restoration and reuse of The Factory — has cut a $200,000 check to Franklin's Charge, the group seeking to assemble a number of parcels off Columbia Avenue and recreate some of the land where the fiercest fighting during the Battle of Franklin took place in late 1864. The gift gets Franklin's Charge to within $100,000 of its goal, but the clock is ticking.

“Our focus is to have the Cotton Gin Park in place by the Sesquicentennial of the Battle of Franklin in November of 2014,” Pearce said. “Completing the acquisition of the land is the first step, and it is critically important that we meet this May 30 deadline.”