Jun. 15—As the Lebanon Wilson Chamber of Commerce celebrates 100 years, construction has begun on a chamber replica in historic Fiddlers Grove at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.

“For us, it’s a building that will education our future generations about our history in the community,” Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Melanie Minter said.

Minter said that Fiddler’s Grove has always been dear to the chamber’s heart.

“They have replicas of buildings that have been around, different businesses and places throughout Lebanon,” Minter said. “We wanted to be a part of that.”

According to Minter, many businesses that fill Fiddler’s Grove represent members of the chamber of commerce.

“We felt like that was a good place and a good fit for us our 100-year (anniversary),” Minter said. “We wanted to make sure that we could have that happen during the fair because we felt like a lot of people would want to join us.”

The chamber of commerce expects that the building replica will be completed by August, just in time for Wilson County Fair-Tennessee State Fair attendees to experience it for the first time.

“The replica was a way that we could celebrate our past (chamber) presidents, who actually gave funds for the building to actually come to fruition,” Minter said.

There will be displays inside of the building, which will also have a front porch and a back porch.

“We are located across from Bay’s Southern Bread Company, and the back of our building backs up to the park,” Minter said. “We’re very excited to have a front porch and a back porch, so that visitors coming and going will be able to walk through the building and will be able to enjoy Fiddler’s Grove.”

Minter said that the chamber wants to be a part of activities that take place in Fiddler’s Grove.

“We’re very excited that we can have people come in and enjoy our space and see what we’re all about as a chamber if they’re not familiar,” Minter said. “Especially during the fair, we have so many visitors from so many different places in the United States and beyond. We want them to be able to see how we’ve contributed to the economic value and the prosperity of Lebanon and Wilson County.”

The chamber of commerce has resided in several buildings prior to the one it’s in now at 149 Public Square.

“We just wanted a replica of the building to be there in honor of those from the past: past presidents, all of the leaders that have been a part of the chamber of commerce,” Minter said. “We thought it was a great way to show that we wanted to be a part of the history of Lebanon.”