http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/realestate/commercial/nashville-gambles-on-appeal-of-new-623-million-convention-center.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1354766810-EDejLw6w20Ncdo/oiywPpg

Here it is, the most expensive public building under construction in a midsized US city:

 

 

 

They widened a narrow street into this 1970's Louisville-esque boulevard:

 

The new center is to the right, behind the arena.  This is a new hotel and an expansion of the country music hall of fame:

 

 

 

You can't tell from this photo, but this stonework is outstanding quality.  Overall every surface of the building is top quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cool building. 

Surprised there was no mention of their failed attempt at a medical trade center.

Hmmmm...I don't know what to think but it's certainly eye-catching.

It's very beautiful. But, it makes me thankful that our(Cleveland) convention center is compact and underground. That seems like a MASSIVE piece of infrastructure. 

Be sure to click the link at top, it has an elevated photo that shows that this thing has a larger footprint and is basically as tall as the NHL arena across the street. 

 

Also, Nashville officials freely admit that they chose to do this instead of mass transit, that a rail system will have to wait.  For $623 million they could have gotten a pretty serious first light rail line, maybe even a subway tunnel of a few miles in length.  And traffic congestion in Nashville is without a doubt worse than any city in Ohio despite it being somewhat smaller than any of the 3C's. 

>It's very beautiful.

 

The photos don't do the materials justice.  Every surface of this thing is top quality. 

Thanks for the update on this massive development; although it's still incomplete, I find myself drawn to its unusual, appealing contours.

It's very beautiful. But, it makes me thankful that our(Cleveland) convention center is compact and underground. That seems like a MASSIVE piece of infrastructure. 

 

^ i will second that. so glad the redeveloped cle cc remains buried. i am definately not a fan of blockbusting cc's in downtowns.

 

NashVegas trying to live up to its name...

 

I think they'll have a homerun when its said and done.  Central location nationally, good level of accomodations, state capitol...it has all the ingredients.

Except the "city" part of the city isn't very large.  2 miles from this convention center in any direction and you're in postwar sprawl.  This has actually been of some benefit as there are many small homes close to the downtown which have been renovated since the 1990s and are now occupied by professionals or hipsters.  But public transportation ridership is abysmal -- only 30,000 per day.  There is hardly anything resembling the neighborhood business districts common throughout the northern cities so you can't really walk anywhere.

Except the "city" part of the city isn't very large.  2 miles from this convention center in any direction and you're in postwar sprawl.  This has actually been of some benefit as there are many small homes close to the downtown which have been renovated since the 1990s and are now occupied by professionals or hipsters.  But public transportation ridership is abysmal -- only 30,000 per day.  There is hardly anything resembling the neighborhood business districts common throughout the northern cities so you can't really walk anywhere.

 

This is pretty typical of most-if not all- southern cities.  They don't even build sidewalks in the new developments.  There are no neighborrhood bars, deli's or pizza joints that you can walk to.  Nobody walks! And it shows.

My parents have lived in Nashville for 15 years.  One day while visiting them I went on a 2 or 3 mile walk through the neighborhood. I had two different people stop and ask me if I needed a ride.  I said no I'm just out for a walk.  I was worried they were going to call the police to report suspicious activity. 

 

But as for Nashville's downtown -- it's not a revival like what we have in the north, since they never had museums, a symphoy hall, or department stores.  It was like downtown Piqua or Lima until about 1990.  The arena and Batman tower opened in 1996, right around when 2nd Ave. and Broadway started taking off with a Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood.  Then Broadway was hit by a tornado in 1997 or 1998 and sustained a lot of damage but came back by 2000.  Around 2005 is when things started getting interesting.  That's when the big push to the area south of Broadway started.  The Country Music Hall of Fame built there along with the Schimerhorn Symphony Hall, which is definitely the best neoclassic building in the US of recent decades.  The downtown post office was turned into the Frist art museum. This convention center expands what can be considered "downtown" even further.  So now Broadway is really the center of town rather than the edge, as it was in the 1990s.

 

What is impressive is how solidly urban this new part of downtown feels.  You can tell that tourists have no clue that it all used to be parking lots and strip clubs.  Speaking of which Christie's Cabaret was torn down for the convention center.  This is the club where Kid Rock punched the DJ after he played "Cowboy".

 

 

 

All the posts above are accurate, but most conventioneers aren't looking for an urban experience.  Most of them live in the sprawl themselves and just want to have a good time in their three days away from the wife and kids.  Vegas draws suspicion, but NashVegas is big on drinking and fun without the questioning later.

I think there is a deeper plot to kill off the Opryland hotel and its convention center.  That hotel has something outrageous like 4,000 rooms.  It is as big as any of the Las Vegas casinos, and at this point, a casino is the only thing that could save it from the downtown machine.  I'm also boldly predicting that downtown is looking to steal back the Grand Ole Opry radio show from Opryland and house it in a new auditorium built on the old convention center site directly across from the Ryman. 

 

Imagine the ruin porn when Opryland bites the dust!

jmeck thanks --  interesting, i lived near there for a couple semesters in the 80s, so i really appreciate the way you wrote that update. the Nashville i remember and hung out in was very sleepy. i remember we used to hang out at elliston square and the exit/in. no idea if those are still around, but that was about it for that city at the time.

 

I think the Exit/Inn is still there.  I went there about 12 years ago but that would have been the most recent.  The "university" area around Vanderlbilt + Hillsboro Village were the only signs of life in the 90s.  There is more of that stuff now in that area, then all the tourist stuff downtown, then all the hipster stuff over in East Nashville.  I'd bet you never even ventured over into East Nashville in the 80s, since there wasn't anything there in the 90s.  Around 2005 the hipster thing really took off over there. 

 

I was to the famous Bluebird Cafe most recently probably in 2000 or 2001.  I'd bet that's still there.  It was the city's biggest tourist nightlife spot for at least 10 years, but was in a strip mall in Greenhills.  Tons of the stuff around Vanderbilt is now high end NYC/LA/Miami type stuff, except you walk out and you're next to a suburban bank branch.  The cityscape is still pretty weak. 

I think there is a deeper plot to kill off the Opryland hotel and its convention center.  That hotel has something outrageous like 4,000 rooms.  It is as big as any of the Las Vegas casinos, and at this point, a casino is the only thing that could save it from the downtown machine.  I'm also boldly predicting that downtown is looking to steal back the Grand Ole Opry radio show from Opryland and house it in a new auditorium built on the old convention center site directly across from the Ryman. 

 

Imagine the ruin porn when Opryland bites the dust!

 

have they torn down the "old" mall yet next to Opry Land?  That thing didn't last 10 years--of course the flood didn't help.

I think the Exit/Inn is still there.  I went there about 12 years ago but that would have been the most recent.  The "university" area around Vanderlbilt + Hillsboro Village were the only signs of life in the 90s.  There is more of that stuff now in that area, then all the tourist stuff downtown, then all the hipster stuff over in East Nashville.  I'd bet you never even ventured over into East Nashville in the 80s, since there wasn't anything there in the 90s.  Around 2005 the hipster thing really took off over there. 

 

I was to the famous Bluebird Cafe most recently probably in 2000 or 2001.  I'd bet that's still there.  It was the city's biggest tourist nightlife spot for at least 10 years, but was in a strip mall in Greenhills.  Tons of the stuff around Vanderbilt is now high end NYC/LA/Miami type stuff, except you walk out and you're next to a suburban bank branch.  The cityscape is still pretty weak. 

 

I was just there last month and was blown away by the new development in "The Gulch".  Still very "suburban trying to urban" in that Dallas sort of style, but yet impressive with all the condo hi-rises dotting the area. 

I think there is a deeper plot to kill off the Opryland hotel and its convention center.  That hotel has something outrageous like 4,000 rooms.  It is as big as any of the Las Vegas casinos, and at this point, a casino is the only thing that could save it from the downtown machine.  I'm also boldly predicting that downtown is looking to steal back the Grand Ole Opry radio show from Opryland and house it in a new auditorium built on the old convention center site directly across from the Ryman. 

 

Imagine the ruin porn when Opryland bites the dust!

 

have they torn down the "old" mall yet next to Opry Land?  That thing didn't last 10 years--of course the flood didn't help.

 

I was just in Nashville in October visiting family. Opry Mills Mall recently reopened after a long and bitter fight with their insurance company over the damage done by the food.

 

BTW - Downtown Nashville once had 3 department stores - Harvey's - closed in the early 80's, Cain Sloan - closed in late 80's and Castner Knott - closed in the mid-90's.

Here is some footage of the flood:

 

These aerials also show how incredibly lame the whole Opry-plex is.  Again I think downtown interests are conspiring to drive this entire thing out of business. 

Just moved back to C-bus from Nashville (Germantown neighborhood) 5 months ago- lived there for the past 5 years.  The Gaylord Opryland Hotel/Complex is a machine, and is not going away anytime soon.  Everybody (generalization) over 40 goes there for there Nashville "experience", with frequent buses/shuttles to Broadway and other sites.  They also just reopened the mall.  They also just spent a sh*t ton of money renovating/rehabbing mall and complex from the floods of April 2010, that place is going to be there for a long time.  I think Gaylord also is partner in the new CC Hotel.  Exit/Inn is still there.  Interestingly, I always thought the traffic in Nashville was much easier then any of the 3C's rush our traffic (lived in all 3).  Their is a ton of new residential construction in the downtown core and expanding out from there (down Broadway/Westend, the Gulch, Germantown, SoBro, 12South, Charlotte ave) and I think it is becoming a much more urban city.  Its the "popular" southern city now, previously Atlanta-->Charlotte.