The first of five welcome silos envisioned by local business owner Blair Hensley, has come to fruition. The silo was erected at the former location of Jim’s Tires, 1510 E. Jefferson St late last month. The idea is to brand the city with a unique identifier so that visitors to the city remember Brooksville long after they’ve gone.
When Hensley first opened his restaurant on Jefferson Street, he noticed that he did not recognize many of his patrons even though he is Brooksville born and raised. He began asking his customers where they are from and found that many were just passing by, on their way to US19 or traveling to 41. With all this traffic coming through the city on our major roadways, he couldn’t pass up such a valuable branding opportunity for the city. Possibly Alfred McKethan had something like this in mind when, back in the 50’s he made sure “All roads led to Brooksville.”
It wasn’t until Hensley was dove hunting with a friend out off of Powell Road, adjacent to a feed silo that the idea became complete. “These 3 story objects, agricultural silos, that represent a slower pace of life, family and a small town… [they] could be the entrances to all of Brooksville,” Hensley wrote in a description of the “Brooksville Monumental Sign Project.” Hensley explains that when someone who is familiar with the silos of Brooksville, passes another silo elsewhere, they will be reminded of Brooksville.
When dairy farming was a large industry in Brooksville, there were many silos to hold the grain to feed the dairy cows. Along this line, the silo is also a reminder of a former way of life in Brooksville.
Hensley is relying on private organizations for funding. He established the nonprofit Brooksville Silo Project Inc which now brings in $58,000 in annual income.
Now that the first silo is complete, the property on which it sits will be donated to the City of Brooksville “so it will remain forever as one of the entrances to the City of Brooksville,” explained Hensley.
Hensley does not foresee the future silo projects being as involved as the first, since he plans to arrange a minimal lease to place the signs on the corner of the properties. After completion of the entrances, they will also be donated and the leases assigned to the City of Brooksville.
Subsequent monument locations will be presented to the council for approval.
“The project went well, and we could have not done it without the Support of the City and everyone that donated to the Project. Now its time to start on the 2nd silo. I just want to thank everyone who supported the project they are the ones that made it happen,” said Hensley.