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Inner Loop - CBD, Downtown, East Bank, Germantown, Gulch, Rutledge

smeagolsfree

By smeagolsfree
in Nashville

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chc3
chc3

Walking home from a stunning Mozart’s Requiem at the Schermerhorn last night. Had a pre-dawn Uber to BNA for a flight to SEA this morning!

markhollin
markhollin

More images released of Hill Center Germantown  slated for mid-2022 groundbreaking at 416 Jefferson St. https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/notes-additional-images-released-for-ger

markhollin
markhollin

H.G. Hill Realty will finally be developing the full 3.58 acre block at 416 Jefferson St. with $93.5 million 5th & Jefferson mixed-use project. It will include a 4 story structure with 110,000 sq.

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Guest 5th & Main Urbanite

Guest 5th & Main Urbanite

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I should have known this because William told me he had an email exchange with Tony on Saturday or Sunday and he said there were no updates to The Sobro, thus no reason to put up a sign. Luckily William had not called Tony yet. I hope my friend Grant Hammond had not called Tony yet either.

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UTgrad09 Town

UTgrad09

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The old Ben West Library downtown will be demolished by metro to make way for additional state surface parking.

 

 

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/proposed-land-swap-between-metro-state-would-demolish-old-ben-west-library

 

Jesus...not that I'd be really torn up to see the old library go...but there are much better uses than a freakin surface parking lot. That side of downtown is already close to being a dead zone. How many surface parking lots does the state need before they wise up and build a parking garage?

 

Maybe the state would be more comfortable relocating to Cool Springs. :dontknow:

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donNdonelson2 Town

donNdonelson2

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It was my understanding that when the Polk family donated the land upon which that library stands, they did so with the stipulation that it must remain home of a library or it would go back to the family.  Has something changed, was I mistaken in my understanding of the situation, or are Metro and the state just going to try to screw the family?

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captainwjm Whistle-Stop

captainwjm

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It was my understanding that when the Polk family donated the land upon which that library stands, they did so with the stipulation that it must remain home of a library or it would go back to the family.  Has something changed, was I mistaken in my understanding of the situation, or are Metro and the state just going to try to screw the family?

 

My recollection is that Polk's or his wife's will carried such a stipulation, but the will was contested, allowing the property to be sold to private interests.  The actual location of Polk's home is where the Hermitage Hotel now stands.  The library is on what were the property's grounds.  So the Polk family has no claim.

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bwithers1 Burg

bwithers1

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Is the Polk Library building currently used for anything? Unless it is, it seems to me that this entire quadrant of downtown is dead anyway, and this particular building going or staying won't change anything but the illusion that there is a useful building on that site.

 

Setting aside a general aversion to adding more surface parking downtown, what will this change?  It seems like Metro is going to get access to a school building in underserved South Nashville that will now get utilized by young people in exchange for a bland, vacant building that will now be used for parking.  Perhaps the needs ot metro school children in the neighborhoods are more important than a bland shell covering facade on Union?

 

I'm all for structured parking with rent-paying retail on the ground floor.  Maybe that - or something even better - will come to this site in the future. 

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UTgrad09 Town

UTgrad09

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Is the Polk Library building currently used for anything? Unless it is, it seems to me that this entire quadrant of downtown is dead anyway, and this particular building going or staying won't change anything but the illusion that there is a useful building on that site.

 

Setting aside a general aversion to adding more surface parking downtown, what will this change?  It seems like Metro is going to get access to a school building in underserved South Nashville that will now get utilized by young people in exchange for a bland, vacant building that will now be used for parking.  Perhaps the needs ot metro school children in the neighborhoods are more important than a bland shell covering facade on Union?

 

I'm all for structured parking with rent-paying retail on the ground floor.  Maybe that - or something even better - will come to this site in the future. 

 

If that were the proposal, I would not object to it. Even though memories of going to the old downtown library are nostalgic, I realize the building itself is dated and would be pretty difficult for an economical adaptive reuse. 

 

I guess I just don't trust the state to do anything worthwhile with the property. Between the Hull controversy, and plenty of other dilapidated state buildings (one's they've abandoned, like TDOT on Charlotte), and the 20-odd acres of surface parking they already own, I just don't imagine this going anywhere fast. I see the state as a hindrance to development on that side of downtown, and I don't see them as wanting to go out of their way to do something positive for the city or the urban environment. That's my opinion.

 

 

Although I can understand John's complaint of Metro basically offering up a sacrificial surface parking lamb to the state, it does make sense for Metro to take control of the NSA property, and I completely understand that from Metro's perspective, the cost of losing the library shell to a surface parking lot is far outgained by the city owning the NSA site and possible charter school location.

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fieldmarshaldj Burg

fieldmarshaldj

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My recollection is that Polk's or his wife's will carried such a stipulation, but the will was contested, allowing the property to be sold to private interests.  The actual location of Polk's home is where the Hermitage Hotel now stands.  The library is on what were the property's grounds.  So the Polk family has no claim.

 

The Hermitage Hotel doesn't sit on the original property. The library and the adjacent Best Western made up the Polk property. Before the he and his Best Western & former library sat the Polk Flats apartment building and the Carnegie library (both historic buildings in their own right). As I stated earlier, the desire of both President & Mrs. Polk was clear, Polk Place and the grounds were to be kept as is and he and his wife were interred there. His will and final request were already flagrantly disregarded in future actions by the court and his family (Polk had no children, just a bunch of greedy and squabbling relatives with no vested interest in upholding his wishes), his house demolished, he and his wife's bodies unceremoniously dug up and put on Capitol Hill (where he did not want to be).

 

As far as what his family wants, who cares ? Unless they wish to demolish the existing buildings, reconstruct Polk Place and reinter President & Mrs. Polk where they're supposed to be, they should have no ability to profit in the matter.

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smeagolsfree Gigalopolis

smeagolsfree

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It was my understanding that when the Polk family donated the land upon which that library stands, they did so with the stipulation that it must remain home of a library or it would go back to the family.  Has something changed, was I mistaken in my understanding of the situation, or are Metro and the state just going to try to screw the family?

That is my recollection as well. That is the reason Metro had a small library in there all this time. From what I understood, if the property did not remain a library then it had to revert back to the family. I hope this is the case. Anything to keep it out of the State of TN's hands for a freaking parking lot.

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Guest 5th & Main Urbanite

Guest 5th & Main Urbanite

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That is my recollection as well. That is the reason Metro had a small library in there all this time. From what I understood, if the property did not remain a library then it had to revert back to the family. I hope this is the case. Anything to keep it out of the State of TN's hands for a freaking parking lot.

 

Now maybe we can get a 60 story skyscraper on that massive lot! That lot is at a higher elevation than even the Signature lot!

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UTgrad09 Town

UTgrad09

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The Nathan Bedford Forrest statue off I-65 would almost look better than a surface car lot.

 

WW

 

Let me Hull it over

 

Let's not get crazy now. I'm not opposed to Civil War statues (even Confederate ones)...but that thing is gaudy...tacky...tasteless....whatever you want to call it. It would be an eyesore on a block filled with Soviet-era housing projects.

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satalac Burg

satalac

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Let's not get crazy now. I'm not opposed to Civil War statues (even Confederate ones)...but that thing is gaudy...tacky...tasteless....whatever you want to call it. It would be an eyesore on a block filled with Soviet-era housing projects.

I'd love to see a militant Malcolm X statue be placed right beside it. You know, just to balance things out.

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Griz83 Whistle-Stop

Griz83

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Can we start a petition to save the Ben West Library?  It's too bad there isn't a petition site for the State like the White House has.

 

While we're at it, let's start a petition to sell off some of the parking lots along 10th Cir N and near the Bicentennial Mall, and structurize a few of the lots, with some restaurants, etc in the ground floor!

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timmay143 Burg

timmay143

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Can we start a petition to save the Ben West Library?  It's too bad there isn't a petition site for the State like the White House has.

 

While we're at it, let's start a petition to sell off some of the parking lots along 10th Cir N and near the Bicentennial Mall, and structurize a few of the lots, with some restaurants, etc in the ground floor!

First off, welcome to the boards!

Second, that is a great idea, and we can create and start a petition. There is a website called change.org where this can be done.

http://www.change.org/

 

Same goes for the Hull, WW!

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Neigeville Whistle-Stop

Neigeville

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I have wanted that Forrest statue torn down ever since it was put up.  I have no problem with nice bronze statues, but that fiberglass monstrosity is just ugly.  

The problem is less the material than the design. Big cartoon head. The material's cheap looking but it could be used for a more whimsical subject and be fine. This would still be horrible in bronze, just really expensive and horrible.

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