Dotson's to get a facelift?

For those of you who don’t know, one of the staples of Franklin, Dotson’s Restaurant may be getting a makeover! I was driving past the restaurant the other day and noticed a sign on a vacant piece of property that read “Future Home of Dotson’s on the River”. The current site sits on the corner of 1st Avenue and Main Street. The new location is adjacent to the current Dotson’s.

In today’s news, there was an article relating to this story. It stated that in addition to giving Dotson’s a facelift, the developer wants to build a 5,000 SQFT building that consists of office and retail space. Dotson’s would be located in the front of this building.
This would be a huge improvement for Dotson’s in that they would have a larger dining area, front porch-style dining, and customers could look over the Harpeth River. Now I’m all about changes and making improvements to an area, but in a selfish way, it will be sad to see the long time staple, Dotson’s, relocate, even though it will be next door. As the owner of Dotson’s said, “It's a landmark and it's going to stay there, but I'm smart enough to know this old building is getting older.

This will definitely clean up the area near the river and bring in a needed “facelift.” The new building is proposed to match the existing architecture of the current buildings in the downtown Franklin area. There have not been any plans seen at this time and the builder is still meeting with city officials about the proposed site plan.