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

[MLBrumby]

Wow!  That could have been a very nice hotel (I recall a Westin proposed for that site) with the facades of the "historic" buildings preserved... but the outrage was vociferous.  Instead, it will be a tent for tourists to wait for a bus and a row of dilapidated buildings.  Nashville's idea of historic preservation is absurd.  

[CenterHill]

This article is behind the paywall, but Fat Bottom has a site under contract. Not disclosing where but the guesses on here are accurate.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2015/5/7/fat_bottom_founder_has_new_location_under_contract

 

Good to see FB grow to the point of being able to acquire their own property.     They make a good product and it looks like they intend to be around for the long term.   Will miss that cool biergarden they have at Fluffo unless they can do something similar in their new space.  

 

The Marathon area (if true) should prove to be a very wise choice as Capitol View develops.     Good for all you HBV and Elizabeth Park folks, also!  

[markhollin]

When I first moved to Nashville in '82, the Tennessee Theater was still open on Church.  Unfortunately, it only featured x-rated films and was in disrepair. I wandered in one afternoon to inquire about utilizing it for a concert promotion (I had been known to help resurrect neglected theaters in other cities like the Fox in Bakersfield, CA, and the Fox in Detroit, MI to name a few). I couldn't find anyone around. I wandered a bit in the dark…it had a cool art deco vibe to it, and 2,028 seats. It was permanently closed within a year or so, and torn down a few years later. A real shame.  Photos here:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6089/photos

At that same time, War Memorial Auditorium was in bad shape, and the Ryman was also in disrepair and unused (you could take a tour for $1.00 and walk anywhere in the building--lots of damage, leaks, broken display cases, cracked pews, dust and cobwebs everywhere).  Am glad that at least those two fine theaters ended up being repaired, preserved, and put into good use again!  

Another beauty we have downtown that hardly anyone has ever been inside is the Masonic Temple Auditorium at Broadway and 7th.  Absolutely stunning inside. Once again, I approached folks there about utilizing it for concerts back in the 90s.  They politely/sternly declined.  I heard a rumor that some country music video was shot there once. It is designed in a u-shaped configuration (as is common with many Masonic Temples that I have rented in other cities). They have more padded seats they can put on the main floor to bring the capacity to around 1,700.  I think it could be a very active facility if the Masons weren't so inward thinking/protective.  An interesting article from The Scene a few years ago that includes a few photos:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/people-pass-nashvilles-downtown-masonic-lodge-every-day-without-knowing-the-surprises-inside/Content?oid=2821057

[titanhog]

Right beside the Masonic Temple is the Barbershop Harmony Hall...which is impressive as well.  I've been inside and they have an auditorium as well.  The outside (as shown in this Saturday Evening Post photo) is pretty awesome.

 

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2013/04/26/art-entertainment/norman-rockwell-art-entertainment/norman-rockwell-barbershop-quartet.html/attachment/harmony-hall-nashville-tn

[MLBrumby]

Beautiful!  What a gem!  Who demolished the Tennessee Theatre?

[rookzie]

Beautiful!  What a gem!  Who demolished the Tennessee Theatre?

 

Someone else might know.  I was living in Norfolk during that time.

-==-

[CenterHill]

Beautiful!  What a gem!  Who demolished the Tennessee Theatre?

Nashville's Tennessee Theater was located in the Sudekum Bulding at the corner of 6th and Church. The Sudekum was a grand depression era building built in the art deco style. In the 80s we used to call it the Ghostbusters Building because of its resemblance to the primary setpiece of the movie of that era (its masonry and top ornamentation that looked like gargoyles from 13 stories below).

The theater closed and the Sudekum sat vacant for years. Tony G bought it and razed it. He built the Cumberland Apartments, which stand on the site today.

[rookzie]

The theater closed and the Sudekum sat vacant for years. Tony G bought it and razed it. He built the Cumberland Apartments, which stand on the site today.

 

I knew TG ultimately bought the property and built the Cumberland, but since the property had changed hands several times, I didn't know that it had been he who actually had it leveled, although I assumed so.

 

Tony Sudekum had sold the building to Warner Bros. early on, then after the Tenn. Theater was opened in the early '50s, the building was renamed the Sudekum Bldg.  Two styling features of that treasure struck me the most: the polished metal reveal moldings extending vertically along the stone work between pairs of windows, and the spandrels above the front main entry, in the form of polished dark-granite curved wings (or reverse ziggurats).

-==-

Edited May 8, 2015 by rookzie

[volsfanwill]

I personally hold a hope that a developer with a secret philanthropic side will build a new tall building that includes a grand theater in the first floor.  I know it won't happen but one can hope.  Maybe make a deal with the state to replace tpac. 

[volsfanwill]

A friend of mine asked me to other day if I see the microbrewery trend continuing.  Here is what I said. 

The big national beers will not go out of business.  

In, 20years some of the local brews will not exist.  Some will sell out to national brands and some will still have a small local footprint.  Some will have a regional footprint. 

But I think most cities will see Mergers of their most popular local brands that will be major regional breweries. 

Basically a step back to the early 1900s but the major national beers will still be everywhere.  And will still be fallback for people. The Nationals will be what you order outside of your own town when you are unsure of the local. 

[CenterHill]

I knew TG ultimately bought the property and built the Cumberland, but since the property had change hands several times, I didn't know that it had been he who actually had it leveled, also I assumed so.

-==-

Yeah, it was very controversial, as you can imagine. In the 90's, downtown was just beginning to emerge from its long funk of decline. Preservationists protested the plan to implode the Sudekum, but there were reports from engineers and experts saying it was "not feasible to repair" and here was an eager developer talking up downtown revitalization and ready to build downtown's first highrise residential tower. Demo permits won out.

A lot of people were upset to see the Sudekum come down in a weekend implosion. The Nashville Scene labeled Tony as "undeveloper, Tony Giaratana".

[MidTenn1]

It's been mentioned before, but the Tennessee Theater hosted the Grammy Awards Show in 1972, I believe.

[volsfanwill]

I think we should bid for it again.  At Bridgestone. 

[MidTenn1]

I think we should bid for it again.  At Bridgestone. 

 

We have tried to get it, but can't pry it loose from the Calisnob's hands. They're afraid it might snow.

[volsfanwill]

So what?  That would make an incredible red carpet! 

[CenterHill]

Two styling features of that treasure struck me the most: the polished metal reveal moldings extending vertically along the stone work between pairs of windows, and the spandrels above the front main entry, in the form of polished dark-granite curved wings (or reverse ziggurats)  .

-==-

I know. It was empty and decaying, but it really was a gem of a building. I so wish we still had it.

[volsfanwill]

I mean, I understand, the last time we hosted.  They had to pipe in the orchestra from next door. Because the Tennessee theater wasn't big enough. But the Bridgestone could hold it.  Close off Broadway from first to 7th. And tent over 6th to 7th. With heat.  

It would work. 

[rookzie]

It's been mentioned before, but the Tennessee Theater hosted the Grammy Awards Show in 1972, I believe.

 

Yes it did.  I watched it live from my apartment in Lynn, Ma.  I recalled the Carpenters, Carole King, and Carly Simon.  That's at least one time I actually bragged about Nashville, to those around me who had branded me a bumpkin back then.  Some of you probably also have read that Nashville is the only city ever to have hosted the Grammys as a single host city for the ceremony, outside NYC and LA.

-==-

[MidTenn1]

Yes it did.  I watched it live from my apartment in Lynn, Ma.  I recalled the Carpenters, Carole King, and Carly Simon.  That's at least one time I actually bragged about Nashville, to those around me who had branded me a bumpkin back then.  Some of you probably also have read that Nashville is the only city ever to have hosted the Grammys as a single host city for the ceremony, outside NYC and LA.

-==-

 

And Helen Reddy, who's song, "I am Woman" won. She said "I would like to thank God, where ever 'she' is." It caused quite a controversy.

[NashvilleTaylor]

Wow. So much I dont know about my town. I had no idea about the theater. Well I was born in 1984...

[rookzie]

Wow. So much I dont know about my town. I had no idea about the theater. Well I was born in 1984...

 

You're nonetheless a jewel asset to this forum IMHO, and a least you can say that you actually did co-exist with the Sudekum Bldg. for a few years.  I only could wish for some old farts proportionately older than I, and who could share in kind about things before my time and when I had been too young to have known of certain events and buildings.  But then some of 'em wouldn't even know how to pronounce the word "computer" (probably would think you said "pooter").

-==-

[nashvillwill]

The Nationals will be what you order outside of your own town when you are unsure of the local.

We must be two very different kind of beer drinkers. Whenever I am somewhere new and wander into a watering hole, I always ask "what's local?". I'm always excited to try something new, for better or worse. I have respect for the macro-brews. They make an amazingly consistent product, but they are always the last choice for me.

[MLBrumby]

Okay, I know Mr. Giarratana has lots of fans here, but I'll be the one to say it.  If (I know... "IF") he did demo the Tennessee Theater, then shame shame!!  Because I believe he also demod another theater that stood where the Veridian is now.  Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying all the old single auditorium theaters should be saved.  I'm sure that one wasn't nearly as significant as the Tennessee, which would/should have qualified for the NRHP, as the only venue outside NYC/LA to host the Grammys.  General question: With so many surface parking lots throughout downtowns in most cities, why do developers always seem to zero in on the sites that already have structures, many times historical, sitting on them?   In my hometown, geesh!  Tom Cousins was notorious for destroying beautiful and historic buildings when there were ample sites nearby on which to build his faceless office towers.  

Edited May 8, 2015 by MLBrumby

[MidTenn1]

From the Nashville archives...

 

 

[grilled_cheese]

We have gone on weekend trips, specifically, to try the local beers.

 

Asheville, Bham, Huntsville, etc.