Olive Garden planned to come to Spring Hill community

The Tennessean-May 6, 2008
SPRING HILL — It's been rumored for months, and now it appears that two new restaurants are coming to The Crossings.
The city Planning Commission will consider the sketch plan Monday for an Olive Garden proposed on the left side of the entrance of Spring Hill's new 63-acre shopping center near the corner of Main Street and Saturn Parkway. It will also vote on a sketch plan for an O'Charley's, which wants to locate on the entrance's other side.
City residents have speculated for so long about the two that the hearsay almost reached folklore status.
"I'd hear it come up, but nobody had any hard facts," three-year resident Julie Whittier said. "It just seemed like a rumor, like something talked about because they wished it would come here."
Whittier said it would be nice to have more sit-down restaurants closer to home.
"I know it will be packed," she said of Olive Garden. "I am 100 percent Italian, so I am pretty picky about Italian food, but this is a decent, affordable place. It's great news for families."
Another Olive Garden fan is Marceline Miller, who moved to Spring Hill about a year ago from Clarksville. She likes it so much she held her daughter's baby shower there.
"I'm just so excited that more things are coming to Spring Hill. We really like it here a lot," she said.
Miller likes having more local choices rather than having to think about the gas she'd burn driving to Cool Springs and said she hopes the city's momentum will continue. A Super Target, Kohl's, Cracker Barrel and Logan's Roadhouse have already opened at The Crossings. Construction continues on other stores, which include Books-A-Million, Circuit City, PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less.
A second phase of The Crossings, expected to include more shops, hotels and a
12-screen movie theater, will start in the fall on the adjacent 50 acres. The development is anticipated to eventually generate around $4 million in sales tax revenues for the city.
Mayor Danny Leverette said people have been asking him about these restaurants for months.
"We have developers who continue to step up to the plate because they listen to what people in Spring Hill want," he said. "We have a lot of things that are being worked on right now."
Leverette also confirmed that Wal-Mart has expressed interest in Spring Hill. The corporation planned to build in Thompson's Station but abandoned those plans last year.
Whittier said it all makes for good chatter among friends while they wait and see what pans out.
"Things are coming in droves," she said. "If there's even an inkling that something is coming, it gives people a lot to talk about."
The commission meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 199 Town Center Parkway.
Contact Jill Cecil Wiersma at 790-7207 or jwiersma@tennessean.com.