Jump to content

Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs

smeagolsfree

By smeagolsfree
in Nashville

 Share

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 16k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

smeagolsfree
smeagolsfree

I was going to try and work on this more this weekend and realize that this is a first effort. This is a rendition of future and under construction towers in the downtown and possible East Bank area.

PostRural
PostRural

Just for fun... Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I got a little impatient and wanted to see what all these projects might look like added to our skyline. So i had a little fu

UTgrad09
UTgrad09

*Note: I copied the text from a post I made on another forum. Most of the commentary is not for y'all. Some of this is construction progress. Some is just miscellaneous. I wish I was half as talented

Posted Images

MLBrumby Metropolis

MLBrumby

Posted
Posted (edited)

With no new photos in a while, I sought some out.  Here is one from a recent visitor from NY, posted on the  C-D site... from Love Circle. Imagine this shot in five years with (10-15?) new buildings: HCA; Sobro; Element; Buckingham; Sheet Music; Westin; Skyhouse; Virgin; Lennar; 505CST; Emery's CC Tower; 19th & Broadway twins; and the Turnberry twins.  

 

0829141849a_1_zpsefbd0a31.jpg

 

Here is the thread of this and other photos from this contributor... http://www.city-data.com/forum/nashville/556859-nashville-pictures-25.html

Edited by MLBrumby
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Popular Post
nashmoney Hamlet

nashmoney

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted

From the Tennessean: Nashville 1964 http://www.tennessean.com/

 

Some pictures from their slideshow

 

Glad that all three buildings picutred are still standing....(except for the train shed behing Union Station)

 

635482699312000002-64then10-049.jpg

 

 

Looks who is standing tall in the top left corner....L&C

 

635482699161650002-64then10-019.jpg

 

The capital complex

 

635482699191450002-64then10-013.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
MLBrumby Metropolis

MLBrumby

Posted
Posted (edited)

Why does Nashville look so good in the "Capital Complex" photo?  For some reason, it looks so clean and crisp and really nice dimensions. 

 

 

I'll take a stab... although I am no expert.  First... the photo is B&W... with the lighter hues brightened by the shutter and film speed. I'd venture that a color shot would not look so crisp.

 

However, your point at looking crisp (IMHO) is likely due to the construction of the older buildings.  in short, they had lots and lots of light granite/marble sheathing, and because they are not extremely tall, shadowing was reduced (compared perhaps to that same angle today). 

 

Finally, to the comment about balance.  Once again, shorter buildings and fewer vacant parking lots.  In 1964 there were still many older buildings standing that would later meet the wrecking ball.  Just looking at the National Life block almost makes me want to cry... as the whole block was demolished for the uber-phallic (now) Tennessee (Snodgrass) Tower.  While that tower makes an impressive silhouette on the skyline, the area immediately around it is a veritable desert of flat, uninteresting concrete. 

 

Okay... that's my "stab" at an answer. 

Edited by MLBrumby
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
fieldmarshaldj Burg

fieldmarshaldj

Posted
Posted

Finally, to the comment about balance.  Once again, shorter buildings and fewer vacant parking lots.  In 1964 there were still many older buildings standing that would later meet the wrecking ball.  Just looking at the National Life block almost makes me want to cry... as the whole block was demolished for the uber-phallic (now) Tennessee (Snodgrass) Tower.  While that tower makes an impressive silhouette on the skyline, the area immediately around it is a veritable desert of flat, uninteresting concrete.

Actually, only one of those buildings was demolished exclusively for the Snodgrass Tower (then National Life & Accident): the dark building directly across the street north of the old library (and that just for the south end of the plaza) and the parking lots were in the original footprint which took up half the block. All of the buildings fronting 7th across from the War Memorial Plaza remained for some time after 1969. Eventually all of them were demolished by the mid 1980s (I remember going down to the old library in the late '70s/early '80s as a kid, you could see them out the north window) for an extension of the plaza to 7th. It was a dreadful loss, since one of the buildings made history as the original location of WSM radio.

You'll also note the 3-story building directly south of the old library, that was wedged in between the original Carnegie Library (demolished for the old library) and the Hotel Tulane (a parking lot now for an astonishing 55 years), which fell for a parking lot.

It is heartbreaking and sickening to look at the number of old structures needlessly lost. Even the church (First Baptist, I believe) just south of Charlotte & 8th, which was the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith's, fell (and that should be a noted historic site, given his and that particular church's role in the local Civil Rights movement). It was demolished for, you guessed it, another parking lot, which it has been now for 3 decades.

It's too bad many of those buildings couldn't be reconstructed (as they've done in Europe).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
MLBrumby Metropolis

MLBrumby

Posted
Posted

Demolishing that Art Deco tower was a huge loss for a city like Nashville which has virtually no large examples anymore.  Even the classical building at the corner was a significant loss.  Clearing those lots just for parking makes it even more bitter.

 

Do you know when the Snodgrass Tower was actually completed? I have looked for the answer from several sources, and I find anything from 1968... to late 1970.  I think I also read that it was a Skidmore Owens Merrill design.  Anyone know for sure?  There is a tower of similar size and vintage designed by them in Houston.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fieldmarshaldj Burg

fieldmarshaldj

Posted
Posted

Do you know when the Snodgrass Tower was actually completed? I have looked for the answer from several sources, and I find anything from 1968... to late 1970.  I think I also read that it was a Skidmore Owens Merrill design.  Anyone know for sure?  There is a tower of similar size and vintage designed by them in Houston.

Yes, it was SO&M. I don't have the date of completion to the month, it was always a 1969-70 project in most sources. SO&M completed three towers (here, in Houston & New Orleans) with vaguely similar designs between 1969-1972. Ours was the "shorty" at 31 stories and 452' (but built first and eclipsing the L&C as the tallest in the city), with the ones in Houston (One Shell Tower at 50 stories & 715' with an antenna that soared to 1,000') finished in 1971 and the NOLA one (One Shell Square at 51 stories & 697') in 1972, which has remained the tallest building in the city and state of Louisiana to date (in fact, it is taller than the highest point in LA).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TNinVB Burg

TNinVB

Posted
Posted

Yes, it was SO&M. I don't have the date of completion to the month, it was always a 1969-70 project in most sources. SO&M completed three towers (here, in Houston & New Orleans) with vaguely similar designs between 1969-1972. Ours was the "shorty" at 31 stories and 452' (but built first and eclipsing the L&C as the tallest in the city), with the ones in Houston (One Shell Tower at 50 stories & 715' with an antenna that soared to 1,000') finished in 1971 and the NOLA one (One Shell Square at 51 stories & 697') in 1972, which has remained the tallest building in the city and state of Louisiana to date (in fact, it is taller than the highest point in LA).

 

I know since the state moved into the building that the messages in the windows have been done away with.  It's is ashamed that the building isn't lit up at night.  You would think some simple flood lights shining up and down the facade would be done.  It's such a large building to be completely in the dark at night.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.