Baronakim

This "wilderness" is not natural. The area looked pretty rough back in the 60s. It was then expected to be developed for housing projects which fortunately was averted by the work of many concerned citizens. The lake rose and fell very much back in the 30s when 1,000,000 or more gallons were drained daily for railroad purposes. Here is a quote from the Radnor website: "The lake was initially created to provide water for use by the L&N Railroad. In 1913, the railroad purchased 1,000 acres in the Overton Hills south of Nashville following completion of a railroad line from Decatur, Alabama to south Nashville. The railroad’s impetus was to build a reservoir large enough to supply water for its steam engines located at nearby Radnor Yards. With careful examination the downward running water supply and the basin below two ridges provided the perfect location. Otter Creek flowed through this basin, and over the next three years (1914-1917) and after the laborious man and horsepower needed to build the earthen dam and transform the landscape– Radnor Lake, the valve house and the valve therein was born. The lake was initially used for watering steam locomotives and supplying the watering pens for shipped livestock. Later on, it became a local sportsman’s club for L&N railroad executives and guests." Pretty much what a lot of people regard as "wilderness jewels" are second or third growth on reclaimed land. I remember when the most of the trees in the Great Smokey National Park were scarcely bigger in diameter than my leg. It was clear cut and eroded back in the 1920s. Fortunately, nature has rebounded, but with climate change, it will be harder and insipient upon all of us to make sure it can still happen.

The decking is fluted for rigidity. Normally the building floors will be divided by the column grid with deeper beams 14" to 24" deep with the larger ones usually incorporated into what is called a moment frame system which intersect at 90 degrees. This gives multistory frames stiffness against windloads which can be tricky in urban blocks. Floor slab thickness is usually around 5" as this is what is required for fire integrity between floors of 2 to 3 hours. Thickness of the concrete floor slab is measured from the bottom of the deck flutes. If the intermediate beams (called purlins) are spaced greater than 5 of 6 feet, the decking is increased to 2" and can be a heavier gauge metal. All Is variable for the proposed loading and economic factors. A hospital tower I am currently working on has a 7.25" concrete floor system. It is cheaper to add concrete where you have recesses like shower pan bases than to perform structural acrobatics to keep a minimum 5.25" slab thickness for the fire code minimums. In the case of the new Courthouse, the dead/ live loading is fairly light (as opposed to storage like the new Archives building) so the floors can be at a minimum thickness. HOWEVER, due to the treat of terrorism, the floors MAY be thicker or have more steel reinforcement than would be customary for say an office tower. I really haven't done much in federal building design in decades and have had no reason to study current codes and standards for their design. One of the design considerations that I think might be interesting to forum members concerns concert facilities like the Schemerhorn and Belmont facilities. The floors, walls and ceiling structure are much thicker and solid as they require more mass for acoustic considerations. This is required to isolate external sounds from the hall and to reduce any internal vibrations from equipment through mass walls. Another reason is that the life expectancy of such structures is measured in centuries unlike office towers which are measured in decades, so they are built very solidly. Consider how long the Convention Center lasted before it was demolished and is being replaced at 5th & Broadway. I remember back in the 1960's when the Cain Sloan department store built its' new four story store where the 505 tower now stands. Probably the 505 is the 5th or 6th building erected on that site. Here are several photos along Church Street when I was a kid. Note that the Parmount theater is on the site of the new Courthouse. I include one looking up Deadrick where the only surviving building is the War Memorial Building at the end of the street. The Cain-Sloan is the site of the 505 now. The towers we now build and salivate over on this forum may come down in 30 or 40 years as they are relatively easy to demolish or implode for new works.

Just a few pics from my office windows and projects over on Main Street in East Nashville nearing completion (nothing particularly exciting). The crane came down on Endeavor yesterday and W is finally getting some columns in the pit.

I am annoyed that I can't locate the post about the Schemerhorn being mistaken for being much older than the 13 years since it has been built. At any rate, I pointed out that the new performing arts building at Belmont would also appear as if it had been there forever. Both buildings are rather spectacular ESa projects, so I thought I would share another symphony hall ESa designed recently in Charleston, South Carolina. The new Belmont facility will be quite similar in quality of period appearance and attention to detail. Sorry I could not provide actual Belmont interior renderings, but they have not yet been published.

Hey MLB, I was kidding you, not criticizing any lack of knowledge on your part. No the dorms were never intended to be temporary. As to the "Soviet style" design of the towers, it was economy, economy, economy. Vandy wanted to make them even cheaper and more brutalistic. Thank heavens, I was just an low level employee and had nothing to do with the actual designing. The firm really did much better work for Vandyon other projects; both of the Streets were very cognizant of how horrible the buildings would look, but Vandy was adamant on costs. Other and considerably better buildings they did at Vandy included Sarratt, Blair School of Music and the village style dorms next to Morgan. As to Waste Management's reasoning, I can believe Ingram may have a valid point as to why they chose Houston.

Oh, I got his well taken point. I just couldn't resist an architectural dig at the "Hogwarts" reference and wanted to comment on the work going on along West End. I have felt a little shame for years in having even been remotely associated with the four giant boxes on West End.

Obviously, you are not particularly well acquainted with the physical plant of Hogwarts (which is of course fictional). Perhaps you are referring to the theme parks' theatrically fake facades? Alternately, you are perhaps woefully deficient in your knowledge of classical architecture and think Vandy is building medieval castles all along West End. I personally worked for Street and Street Architects when those massively ugly Carmichael Dorms were designed. I thought they were dreadful then and will shed no tears when they come crumbling to the ground. The original Edward Durell Stone dorms at the corner of 21st Avenue were godawfully boring. If you prefer steel and glass boxes, perhaps you would like to see some of the insane products of Frank Gehery on campus or perhaps a chimera like the hodgepodge of the Children's Hospital on campus or monstrosities like the old swoopy Olin Engineering Hall . Seriously, the replacement dorms are in fair harmony with the historic structures of the Vanderbilt campus and do define an important boundary along West End. There are far worse alternates Vandy could have taken architecturally.

Thought I would chime in here on a topic other than sports mania, scooters and super ugly boxy housing. This is sort of a resurrection of from an old post of Mark Hollin about the redevelopment of Centennial Park back a few years ago. I suppose that the phase II reconstructions are winding down though the Earl Swennson designed bandshell hasn't been demolished and replaced yet. There also was to be a reworking of the course of the spring in the corner by the funeral home at Elliston and 26th.I thought they were going to restore the clamshell and ship prow artifacts of the 1897 faire. Does anyone know what and when is the next phase for the park? For those of you who are new or out of town, here are some history and pics about this unique park. I remember back then when some ignorant Nashville preacher was raging about the Parthenon and how it was NO PLACE for an idol of a Pagan goddess. How stupid can you get? Here is a brief history revue from the Conservancy of the Parthenon Centennial Park: "Early in the city's history, Nashville acquired the nickname "Athens of the West," because of the emphasis on education, especially a classical education, which included studies in Greek and Latin. As the United States spread ever westward, Nashville ceased to be on the frontier and the nickname changed to "Athens of the South." It was a firmly established sobriquet by 1895, when Tennessee began planning an exposition in celebration of its first 100 years of statehood. Following the lead of Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the planners of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition chose a neo-classical style for the buildings. When Nashville offered to build the art pavilion for the fair, the natural choice for the Athens of the South was a replica of the Parthenon. Built as a full-scale replica only on the outside, the interior was a series of galleries for the display of paintings and sculptures gathered from around the world for the . This replica was intended to be a temporary structure, as were all the exposition buildings, but it so filled Nashville's collective imagination that the city decided to leave it standing as a civic monument and art center." The first 3 photos are of the 1897 Tennessee Centinnial Exposition which from a construction point of view was amazing. William Crawford Smith was the architect of the Parthenon Arts pavillion. This is a postmortem portrait. I suppose the Parthenon will be the next victim of the rabid anti -confederate history bruha these days and will be picketed to be torn down. Likewise the 1950s &60s nativity display. Athena, for now, seems safe in her temple. "Nashville's Athena statue was constructed from 1982 to 1990. It stood in Nashville’s Parthenon as a plain, white statue for 12 years. In 2002 the Parthenon gilded Athena with Alan LeQuire and master gilder Lou Reed in charge of the project. The gilding makes Athena appear that much closer to the ancient Athena Parthenos. In addition to gilding, the project included painted details on her face, wardrobe and shield. Nashville's Athena stands 12.75 meters (41'10") tall, and weighs approximately 10900 Kg (12 tons.) This makes her the largest piece of indoor sculpture in the Western World." The last photos show the clamshell and ship's prow still standing in the front area of the park. The ship's prow has the bronze fittings from the cruiser 'U.S.S. Tennessee'. Actually, the ship prow dates from the 1920s not the 1897 Exposition as the ship was in active service untill it was replaced around WWI and broken up. The state of Tennessee received the ornamental bronzework we see today.,

For the Nashville history buffs, here are a few old photos. The first is the west side of the square looking up Union (demolished in the 60s). The second is the Shelby Street Bridge east banks, site of the stadium and the park area with the long ramp up to the bridge. The third is the Neuhoffs building back in the late 30s. It was little different when I worked there in 1966. Right by the opening in the corner of the curve was where you entered and punched the timeclock. Where I worked was right under the square roof popup on the first floor. Hot, sweaty and put me off luncheon meats for a decade. The last was of Candyland where every kid had to carjole his mom to stop on a trip to the department stores. This was at the corner of 6th and Church. The fascade was a mirror shiny cobalt blue porcelain tile. To the left was a very narrow Kystal (about 8 feeft wide).

Gulch Crossing had their annual required fire drill yesterday as I was looking at the W excavation......we have WALLS going up now down in the pit. Anyway I found a few views I liked from under the Demonbreum viaduct. For those who have not been under the bridge, the piers are rather cool.

I found another aerial view looking back west towards downtown showing just how rural up 4th Avenue S. was back then almost to the heart of Nashville.

I hope this is the best thread for this bit of urban Nashville history. For several years now I have been looking around the banks of the Cumberland like at Gay Street and under the bridges next to the stadium parking lot. I had seen some old stone work, but did not realize what I had found. Recently the old stonework was cleaned up and recognized by historians as the ruins of the first bridge over the Cumberland in Nashville. It is under the Victory Memorial bridge constructed in the early 50s. The abutments are what remain of the old Nashville Toll Bridge which opened in 1823. Here is a brief description from the native History Association website www.nativehistoryassociation.org/tollbridge.php : "The first bridge in Nashville, which was also the first bridge over the Cumberland River, was built in 1823 at the northeast corner of the city's public square, near the location where the Victory Memorial Bridge now stands. It was a three-span, covered toll bridge constructed of wood and iron, supported by stone abutments on each bank, and two stone piers in the river channel. In the late 1830's thousands of Cherokees crossed this bridge on the Trail of Tears. By the mid-nineteenth century, the new generation of steamboats was too tall to pass under the bridge, so in 1850 the first Woodland Street Bridge was built to replace it. The 1823 Nashville Toll Bridge was then dismantled in 1851" Like the old City Cemetery and the limestone block walls in the Gulch, this shows one can still ferret out bits of old Nashville. In the aerial shot, you can see the east bank abutment standing just to the left of the Woodland Street Bridge approach. This photo is from 1940 and shows how dense the city was back then with one and two story buildings. It was in the late 1960s when so much of this became the vast sea of parking lots which we are still striving to refill.

I posted this to show BNA as I recalled it from around 1956 or so when I first visited it. I just found a photo that shows just how small it was back then. The aerial is from about 1947, but it hadn't changed at all up to when I was first there. The difference between then and now seems almost as great as the difference between now and Star Wars. My grandfather was born in 1892 and died in 1993 here in Nashville. In retrospect, I can appreciate the massive and miraculous changes he witnessed in his long lifespan as I have witnessed Nashville transitioning into an amazing city in my own lifespan.

I did some more digging around and found some more old aerial pics of Nashville. This one of the gulch area is the best I have seen, showing the pre-interstate Gulch and including all the way to the river. The second is of the old rail facilities over on Charlotte. This shows where the new Lentz building, One City and the main HCA offices. At the extreme right is the north boundary of Centennial Park The third is the best view of Fort Negley I have found shown here in 1937 shortly after its reconstruction. To the left is the site of the Adventure complex and where the future I65 & I40 loop is now. This is exactly what I had to deal with back in 1966 when I was working for Brush, Hutchison & Gwinn Architects and had to create a large model of the area for the new Children's Museum (renamed Adventure Science Center much later) we were designing. The model had to show the future interstate, so I had to work from the highway engineering plans for the interchange. No easy task for an apprentice architect. I had to include an area ll the way past the Vorhees building on 8th and had to make tiny block models of all the existing buildings that would remain. This is where I became so familiar with this area even though I grew up across the river in Inglewood.

Thought I would post an o;d photo of the 819 fatherland church. Glad to see it being reused.

Paul, your outstanding shot of the old fort beyond Greer reminded me that i have a couple of old shots I need to post. The first shows the fort under reconstruction during the Great Depression. The second shows the completed reconstruction. Here is some background on the fort from the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society website. "The opening guns of the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 15-16, 1864, were probably fired from Fort Negley, although the fort itself was never directly attacked at any time during the war. Fort Negley was a complex fort, many of its features based on European forts. The fort was built in 1862, taking three months to construct. Many blacks were used in the construction, including 13,000 Union soldiers. The fort is 600 feet long, 300 feet wide, and covers four acres. It used 62,500 cubic feet of stone and 18,000 cubic feet of earth. It cost $130,000 to construct. The east and west parapets are partially star-shaped, the redans allowing concentrated crossfire against attackers. At the southern end of the fort, where attack was most likely, were two massive bombproof bastions equipped with guns which could be aimed in several directions. Each bastion had tunnels which protected men moving through the works. The stone foundation of the fort was covered with dirt, which would absorb the concussion of incoming artillery rounds and prevent the stonework from shattering. Grass was grown on the earthworks to prevent erosion. At the center of the structure was a 12-foot-high stockade built of cedar posts, with turrets. Underground water cisterns were kept inside the stockade, which was designed as the last defensive position in case the fort was overrun." "AFTER its capture in 1862, Nashville was developed by Union forces into the most fortified city in North America. A series of forts ringed the city, the largest and southernmost being Fort Negley, named for U.S. Gen. James Scott Negley, provost marshal and commander of Federal forces in Nashville." During the 1930s, WPA work crews restored the old fort to its original appearance, but the location was allowed to deteriorate and become overgrown with vegetation.

I meant to take this every morning turning into Gulch crossing and finally got around to it. The Virgin will do a nice job of terminating the view down Demonbruen. I think just a bit further distance makes the building look taller over the trees. Incidentally the street is not Demon Brewin', but it is named for one of my stepmother'sdirect ancestors, Jacques-Timothée Boucher, Sieur de Montbrun ( /dəˈmʌmbriən/. Born 23 March 1731 – Died October 1826), anglicized as Timothy Demonbreun, a French-Canadian fur trader, an officer of the American Revolution, Lieutenant-Governor of the Illinois Territory and is known as the "first citizen" of Nashville, Tennessee. Demon Brewin'.... not bad name for a brewhouse on this street, huh?

Got this while stopped in traffic in East Nashville today. The skyline gap is really starting to fill finally.

Thought I would post from a POV a little different, the Greenway over by Charlotte.

Yes, as to species I was not sure, but most of the time I was viewing from the alley side on my way to the Turnip Truck parking area behind the store. The view was obscured by a deteriorated wood fence and scrubby undergrowth but the trees on the sideyard property line did provide some visual relief and welcome shade for the surface parking adjacent. While hackberries are not at all majestic landscape trees, if the tree ordinance in fact applies here, it is irrelevant as to the species if the tree is mature and reasonably healthy. And hackberries are indeed native species. Preclearing such as this is often done before submitting for permits as it is a dodge to avoid being required to plant more trees than owners may prefer due to tree code provisions. I don't have any idea if this is what is going on here at this specific site, but the trees were appreciated green visually shielding the alley from street view. I hope the site will eventually be developed attractively.

Some excavation? I passed by there yesterday and the whole site of the old house had been totally cleared to dirt all the way to the alley. One of the big problems with sites like this in Nashville is that owners fail to get proper permits, especially for tree removal. I would like to know if this site clearing was properly permitted and what, if any, penalties would be applicable for removing its several mature trees? Anyone have a copy of the specific code regulations are? In many locations, the required landscaping for development is based on how many trees of a certain caliper are required to be replanted based upon the diameter of the removed trees on site. Too often, we get a building , lots of asphalt and crappy K-mart shrubbery. I would think that in an old area with so much restoration and designated historic overlay, that this site should not have been so severely bulldozed. Comments?

Looking from parking deck of Gulch Crossing

That is correct, capacity is electronically monitored if you haven't noticed the displays. I work in Gulch Crossing and understand that parking is also being planned in the Thompson Hotel. Here is a shot I took yesterday.

Regrettably, the stained glass of the chancellery apse does not appear to have survived, though the stone framework of the tracery is intact. The main front rose window looks intact. from the photo or is what I see the window at the end of the cross aisle arms? At least the stained glass is some of the best documented in the world and can be rebuilt. Also fortunate is that the glass is unlike that at Chartes which has aged over centuries to the magical blue of today.

If any of y'all have not heard, all of the wooden components of the interior of the nave and transepts were completely destroyed, However, the masonry walls and arches survived largely due to the fact that there were few modern materials at the roof level. Wood does not burn as hot as petroleum based components. As an architect, I suspect the flying buttresses kept the walls standing. Of course, the masonry would resist the heat rather well. All of the wood screens and such would have burned off rather quickly. Hopefully, the stone vaulted interior ceilings kept the main fire and heat from melting the lead glazing channels which hold the stained glass pieces from melting. As the temperatures at which the stained glass was manufactured is extremely high, hopefully the glass would survive should the lead melt. If the windows collapsed, the glass could probably be reinstalled in new leading, especially since the window patterns are so thoroughly computer documented. Any surviving pieces could be identified and put back in the correct position. I know this from experience with rebuilding elaborate antique stained glass church windows blown apart in a gas explosion in Auburn, Alabama about 25 years ago. More good news at Notre Dame is that the magnificent organ (which I assume was in the square towers) has survived with little damage. As mentioned in earlier reports, a great deal of the interior treasures were removed and saved. As to rebuilding, I suspect that no structure of the roof will be replaced in wood as the size and number of trees just is impossible to replace. No one is going to cut down a 200 to 300 year forest to replace wood roof structure that cannot be seen, No, they will use steel and fireproof decking to replace it exactly as the cathedral construction at the La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is being built. Likewise, the hidden parts of Notre Dame, would likely be rebuilt in such a manner as to speed the rebuilding. It is unlikely that antique construction techniques will be used except where visible. With the experience of rebuilding ancient cathedrals damaged from the First and Second World wars and with computer documentation and analysis, I would expect the rebuilding to take 5 years or so AND every stone would be inspected and cleaned so that the cathedral will again be of white (or cream) stone upon rebuilding. Money, I do not think, will be a problem considering the combined resources of the nation of France, the Vatican and millions of generous donors around the world. If any of y'all have never viewed the computer animation of the proposed completion of La Sagrada Familia Cathedral by 2026, you will not believe it! Absolutely awesome! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2440014/How-Gaudis... I am sure that after you view it, you will believe that Notre Dame will be restored to us in jig time. Actually, the vaulting was laid without mortar and the entire vault held together by gravity if I recall medieval construction techniques. Rather like the stones of the pyramids. P.S. It does look like the vaulting saved much of the interior. If the spire had not knocked a large hole in falling, I suspect the interior would have survived mostly intact, albeit burned. It is confirmed that the most important religious treasures were saved as the fire was confined to above the vaulting for a sufficient length of time to rescue them. That which fell through the spire breach burned on the floor and flames inside the nave probably were not tall enough to reach and melt the window leading. We are hopeful. At least the structural integrity of the walls and columns do not seem to have been in danger. From the video this morning, even the steel scaffolding outside remains standing which indicates the wood fire was not hot enough to deform the scaffold frames (which has no fireproofing).