Tennesseestorm

Executive Plaza - built around 1900. Downtown Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee.

Great photos. Sorry I have not been posting, but it has been very hectic at work and we have had out of town relatives visiting and some have stayed over, so not much free time. I will try to get some later this week.

Finally a little good news for east Tennessee business. Some of you from the east Tennessee area are very familiar with the supermarket chain "Food City". Actually, I am sure many are, because they are the sponsor of the Food City 500 race every spring at BMS. Anyway, they have been building alot of new stores in the region lately. The latest one was a new store replacing an existing store in the south part of Bristol, TN. The old store was small. The new building is much larger and has brought in more employees. It is also state of the art. Not only is this store here, but many others in the shopping plaza it is built into. A new bank will be on one side and what looks like 10 more spaces for businesses in the shopping center. One of which I know will be a barber shop. I have also heard that a Jersey Mikes Subs is going in there and on the other end, a Dollar Tree has already opened in the plaza. This new store is not too far north from the new Super Wal-Mart that is just north of Bristol Motor Speedway. The addition of that new Wal-Mart has helped that part of Bristol flourish. Shortly after that new Wal-Mart went in several stores/shops near that area, then a new Lowes was built about a mile north of there- next door to the new Food City actually. There is also a new Walgreens being built in the same area, as well as a new Wendy's restaurant, which will replace the current old building that is in the same parking lot as the new FC. The new Wendy's will be across the street from FC. More news on Wendy's is that a new building was also recently built on the northwest side of Bristol, just off of Exit 3 I-81. This store replaced the old one on W. State St, which closed after the new one opened. All of this good news for Bristol, TN-VA. Alot of businesses opening in Bristol, but no industrial jobs at this time. Seems like it is turning into a retirement area, which is not good for the younger generation here in a city with a population of 44,000 and growing, despite the lack of good paying jobs.

OK - I was out and about today, but not in downtown Bristol. I have already posted those here anyway, but I am sure I can get different ones later on. I had originally planned on going to Kingsport today, but really had to go to Colonial Heights, which is a suburb south of Kingsport. We ended up on the south side of Kingsport anyway, because of a missed turn. Anyway, not too many of buildings, but some are. Here are some taken along the way...... Photo of Bristol Motor Speedway - facing north. I had to take a turn off of HWY 394 to get this view: Here is one of the "Raceway Condo" we have been talking about on another forum. This is the first completed building. Apparently, several more are under construction. Building is larger than it looks in this photo. This was taken from in front of the race track - on the Volunteer Parkway. Got back on HWY 394, heading toward I-81, passing through Blountville, I took this photo of the Sullivan County courthouse: Not building, but here are some trees (loblolly pines?) I took heading down I-81: Exit 63 - Tri-Cities Airport exit: Photo taken just after exiting off of I-81 - heading toward Kingsport: Heading back out of Colonial Heights - this is one of the main streets. Its just a small suburb south of Kingsport, but it is a VERY BUSY little town. They have a Super Wal-Mart on the main road, so that may have something to do with it. Also, one of the largest southern magnolias I have ever saw on that road. I did not get to get a photo of it. Lastly, heading back north on I-81 - more trees. This part of the interstate is covered in pine trees. Unfortunately, my new camera only takes about 8-10 photos, before the memory runs out. I really need to get a memory card soon to be able to take more photos. Sorry if these are small. I had to resize them, because I did not want to overload the system. Hopefully they are sufficient. Hopefully more of buildings next time. I look forward to seeing more photos here.

Excellent photos! I am off tomorrow (Tuesday), so I am going to try to get some of the area. I am planning on going to Kingsport tomorrow to pick up a Windmill palm at a greenhouse, so maybe some from that fair city too!

Kindof off topic, but I hope everyone there in northern Alabama is safe. A lot of tornadic storms roaring through there. We had bad storms earlier here and even some tornado warnings. Its been a rough night. Stay safe!

Excellent idea. I will try to take as many as possible and post here frequently.

Those condos in Chattanooga look neat! The one that is completed near the speedway is now complete and I have heard that ALL have been sold. Mostly to race car drivers to this building, but do not quote me on that one yet. More news, the Home Depot is complete at exit 7 and "The Village" shopping center complex is moving along. I am happy that a Cracker Barrel is going in there. Its much closer for us, because now we have to go to Kingsport (at the airport exit on I-81 - I think exit 66), or exit 17 on I-81 in Abingdon, VA - both about 18-22 miles from me. We really like it.

Yeah, downtown Bristol. Sorry, I was in a hurry this morning and did not get to give a lot of detail, but really I still do not know much myself. I heard that they are going to demolish the old Sears building (that used to be Sears until 1975). It moved to the Bristol mall when it opened in 1976. What confuses me about this is that the old Sears building downtown has a creek running under it. There is a sizable creek that runs through the downtown area and a large area has the creek under it. I never even knew this before. I never had thought about where the creek went after it passed the courthouse. I am really surprised that I never realized it until my mother told me. If it is indeed a 100 room hotel in that space, it would definitely have to be several stories high, but I do not think the ground under it could support the weight. Unless I am wrong and it is more solid than I think? Some of the locals I have spoke to about this so far seem to oppose, asking "why" do we need it? I personally would not mind seeing a 20+ story building down here. More details as I get them. UPDATE - I just went on one of our local news (CBS TV station and Bristol newspaper site combined) and found this link. According to this - that area could also be a park. I also read something about a convention center, parking and a "boutique hotel". What is a boutique hotel supposed to be? Also, listed here and in yesterdays paper, they are talking of cutting down the pear trees downtown, because they are getting too large and blocking the merchants signs. . Here are the links: (if they work) http://search.tricities.com/DisplayCQArtic...2006/03/23/0021 I am going to keep searching site and our local NBC website ( http://www.wcyb.com ) for the info on the 100 room hotel that was proposed. Someone at work that knows someone that works downtown said those new "loft apartments" are going to be renting for $1500-$2500 per month! Must be pretty fancy!

Sorry - it posted double. (see next post) Yeah, downtown Bristol. Sorry, I was in a hurry this morning and did not get to give a lot of detail, but really I still do not know much myself. I heard that they are going to demolish the old Sears building (that used to be Sears until 1975). It moved to the Bristol mall when it opened in 1976. What confuses me about this is that the old Sears building downtown has a creek running under it. There is a sizable creek that runs through the downtown area and a large area has the creek under it. I never even knew this before. I never had thought about where the creek went after it passed the courthouse. I am really surprised that I never realized it until my mother told me. If it is indeed a 100 room hotel in that space, it would definitely have to be several stories high, but I do not think the ground under it could support the weight. Unless I am wrong and it is more solid than I think? Some of the locals I have spoke to about this so far seem to oppose, asking "why" do we need it? I personally would not mind seeing a 20+ story building down here. More details as I get them.

I also found out yesterday that 100 room hotel is proposed to go downtown. More info as I find out details.

Not sure on the exact number, but several are supposed to be going in there. They are labeled as "ultra luxury" condominiums. I drove by today and noticed they are called "Raceway Center Condominiums". There is already a huge for sale sign out front, with a second large sign that says "phase two". The power is already on that completed building, as I noticed people out on the balconies and lights illuminated. I plan to take my camera by there soon and take some photographs. Good idea about the 50 story building and watching the race. However, I was just thinking that since the grandstands and suites are now so high, it would probably take more like 75-100 stories to see the complete track from that area.

I cannot find any write-ups on it, but they are currently building a multi-million (maybe even billion) condominium complex in Bristol, TN - straight across from the Bristol Motor Speedway. One of the buildings (6 or 7 stories) is nearly complete. I think several are going down there. I do not recall what the complex is called. If anyone knows, please post it here. Why not just make one 50 or more story building?

Thanks for the nice welcomes. I look forward to posting on these boards.

Thanks and thanks for letting me know about this site! I never even knew about it. Actually, we have been invited to Nashville by one of my dads old friends at one of the local TV stations there, but not sure if we will make this year or not. We have also been invited to visit friends in Memphis as well, but that may not happen this year either, as we have to go to Florida and Wilmington, NC this year. Maybe next year. Yeah- you should visit Bristol- it is changing more daily! Thanks again!

Well- looks like no one has keyed in on Bristol, TN-VA yet, so I am going to copy and paste what I typed out on the skyscraper page. So far, this is what I have heard (and in some cases know) about what is going on in Bristol, TN. I am not sure if anyone else on this board lives in Bristol, or knows what is going on in the area, but here is what have gathered. I will start out discussing the city in general. Again- below I am quoting what I posted on the skyscraper page: They are currently in the process of heavily revitalizing our city, with a population of about 43,000. The city of Bristol is located in two states - Tennessee and Virginia. Downtown is actually split by the two states. One side of the street is TN and the other side is VA. Most of the buildings consist of older buildings from the early 1900s if I am correct, with some of the taller buildings built in the 1970s and 1980s. Downtown consists mostly of: antique shops, theaters, art galleries, coffee shops, homeless shelter, pawn shops, banks, restaurants. Many of the buildings have recently underwent "facelifts". I-81 runs just north of downtown and actually runs through the city of Bristol. The northeast and southwest side of the city are very "busy" places. Northeast Bristol is like another "mini city" off of exit 7 I-81. When a Wal-Mart supercenter was built up there in the early to mid 1990s- the development exploded and still more and more construction going on up there, with numerous rastaurants, large movie cinema, convention centers, two large home-improvement centers (Lowe's and Home Depot), several mini-malls, large supermarket (Food City) and soon to be another large shopping plaza, called "The Crossing". Remember- most all of this was farmland in the very early 1990s. Also- in progress, are the upper stories of some of the old buildings down there are being completely remodeled into fine apartments. They are referring to them as "lofts". I think rather than them being rented out, they are selling them. One of the main reasons for the total remodel is that they can replace all of the old wiring and putting in firewalls between each unit. Most of the 1st floors of these buildings are antique shops, coffee houses, theaters and art galleries. I am not sure those businesses will remain in the buildings with the new lofts. Seems like a good idea, but parking downtown is currently limited to some small parking lots and on the sides of the downtown streets. That has prompted the approved proposal of a large downtown parking garage next to the local NBC TV station- also located downtown - across from the train station. The train station downtown also underwent an extreme remodel and cleaning. It is still unsure what is going on with it, but it is proposed to become and active train station again- where folks can actually board the trains and travel. Also- fine restaurants are reported to be going in there as well. Also- just completed was our new public library - also downtown. The old building dated back to the 1960s and it was not very large. The new one is state of the art and is much larger. I am not sure of the exact cost, but it was a multi-million dollar project. The old library was demolished and the new one built in its place, but more land had to be opened up there for the new building. Actually, as I type this - the books are being moved over to the new building from the temporary location. Now, on the southwest side of town - across the street from Bristol Motor Speedway - are what I have been told are multi-million (or billion?) dollar condominiums. These are about 12-14 stories high - or at least the one built appears to be. There are supposed to be numerous buildings built in that area. I am not sure how tall they are going with the others - hopefully some will be "skyscraper" status. Photos of that area coming soon. In the meantime, here are some photos of our downtown area taken late last September of 2005. I do not have a whole lot of the buildings along the main street downtown, but some of those soon as well. Updates on the progress regularly. As far as I know- there are no other proposals of new high-rises in our city. I am unsure of how tall the parking garage will be, but I am sure- no where near highrise status.

Northeast Tennessee - in the Tri-Cities Metro area. Born and raised here too.