The Tennessee State Building Commission on Thursday approved moving ahead with a $260 million replacement project for Moccasin Bend hospital.
At the meeting in Nashville, several speakers said the rebuilt hospital should not be on historic Moccasin Bend.
State officials said an archeological survey will be performed at the bend site prior to proceeding.
Officials noted the hospital was built in the 1960s and all of its services need to be combined in a new building. The existing buildings at Moccasin Bend will be torn down.
The local legislative delegation and the county commission earlier endorsed keeping the hospital at Moccasin Bend, but some conservation groups have called for moving it and adding the 86 acres at the hospital to the National Archeological District.
A hospital employee said the Bend is an ideal location for a hospital because of the tranquil setting.
Opponents of keeping it on the Bend said there is no public transportation there and it only has a narrow, two-lane road. They said that should the hospital leave, it was promised to Native American tribes that the land would revert to a park. They said these tribes may file suit if the hospital was to be rebuilt there.
Jay Mills, a longtime advocate for the Moccasin Bend Park, said the site provides the highest elevation to see and interpret all the surrounding land and burial grounds.