The Dickson City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the sale of property that the Tennsco Corp. has been leasing for 60 years.
At its meeting Monday, Sept. 19, the council unanimously approved Ordinance #1527 authorizing Mayor Don L. Weiss Jr. to sign and execute all documents necessary to sell the property at 402 East Broad St. to Tennsco under the terms of a 1961 lease agreement. The ordinance faces a second vote at the Oct. 3 council meeting and must be approved by the Dickson Industrial Trust.
Created by the Dickson Board of Aldermen in the 1920s, the Dickson Industrial Trust worked to create jobs by obtaining property and constructing buildings for manufacturing operations. According to Robert S. Clement’s book “From Mile Post 42 to City of Dickson 1980,” the Dickson Industrial Trust obtained 2.76 acres in 1952 that had previously been the site of the Dickson Raincoat Factory on East Broad Street. The trust constructed a building and leased the property to the K.F. Cline Company, which “was engaged in the manufacture and warehousing of wire products and plastics.”
Clement reports the property and lease were acquired by Diebold Inc. in 1959 and that company manufactured safes and office equipment. In 1962, the property was leased to Chicago native Lester Speyer, who started the Tennsco Corp. in the manufacture of filing cabinets and office furniture. Tennsco has since grown to eight plants in Dickson as the county’s largest industrial employer and continued to lease the property that became Plant #1 for 60 years at $600 a year. The initial term of the lease was for 10 years and the parties agreed to 10 five-year extensions for a total of 60 years that expired Dec. 31, 2021. Over the years, additional properties were acquired and added to the lease, which allowed the company to expand the building.
According to the terms of the 1962 lease agreement, Tennsco could purchase the property in the first 10 years for the amount remaining on the lease and after Jan. 1, 1972, can purchase the property for $3,000. Tennsco notified the city of its desire to exercise the option to purchase the land and buildings on Aug. 24.
City Recorder Chris Norman reported at the council meeting that the Tennsco property is believed to be the last property involving the Dickson Industrial Trust. Most of the authority of the DIT was transferred to the Industrial Development Board of Dickson County when it was created by the legislature in the 1970s.
According to Clement, the Dickson Industrial Trust was involved in the creation of many of the industrial properties in the city of Dickson, including the Winner Boats plant in West Dickson that is now Tennsco Plant #2, the American Cigar Company on North Mulberry Street that became Red Kap in 1928 and is now Red Kap Flats condominiums, and the Henry I. Siegel plant on South Mulberry Street that is now Mulberry Mills. The trust also was involved in the acquisition of property in west Dickson that became a National Youth Administration Resident Project as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal recovery from The Great Depression, which later became the Valley West Complex, and arranged the donation of equipment to Dickson Central High School in 1944 that enabled the school to add a cafeteria.
Norman said the Dickson Industrial Trust, which is not believed to have met in over 40 years, will have to convene a meeting to approve the sale of the property to Tennsco. According to the City Charter, the Dickson Industrial Trust is comprised of the mayor, the president of The Bank of Dickson, the city attorney and the chairman of the council’s Finance Committee. With the Tennsco property believed to be the last involvement of the trust, Norman said the council can consider seeking a private act from the next session of the Tennessee General Assembly to dissolve the trust and remove it from the charter.
Once approved on second reading by the council and by the Dickson Industrial Trust, the city will schedule a closing to finalize the sale of the property to Tennsco.
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