Creating Places: A Citizen Observer's Look at Nashville's Built Environment


Writer's Note: William Williams' interest in the manmade environment dates to 1970, at which point the then-young Williams started a collection of postcards of city skylines. The collection now numbers 1,000-plus cards. Among the writer's specific interests are exterior building design, city district planning, demographics, signage, mixed-use development, mass transit and green/sustainable construction and living. Williams began his Creating Places column with The City Paper in February 2005. The column in its original form was discontinued in September 2008 and reinvented via this blog in November 2008. Creating Places can be found on the home page of the website of The City Paper, at which Williams has worked in various capacities since October 2000.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Creating Places: New police precinct

Here is a rendering of the proposed Metro Police Department Central Precinct building, slated to be built on the south side of Korean Veterans Boulevard next to the NES substation (on the left in this image) and hugging Seventh Avenue South (to the right of the structure in the image). I will weigh in with my thoughts by Thursday as the night is getting late and the sleep-inducing strains of Thomas Newman's The Debt soundtrack are making me drowsy. Until then, I'm curious to get the thoughts of those dedicated few who visit this site. Feel free to offer your take.






Posted by at

15 comments:

  1. YouarethegovtJanuary 16, 2013 at 8:17 AM

    Who designed it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. William WilliamsJanuary 16, 2013 at 8:32 AM

    Good question, YATG. Will check and include in my review of the building.

    WW

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2013 at 7:52 AM

    This is about the only way to hide the blank wall that is the substation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Modernism in a post-modern world.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2013 at 9:27 AM

    Too hard to tell from the picture, but not immediately objectionable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2013 at 9:29 AM

    Not good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2013 at 10:08 AM

    I have no issues with it. It looks solid and utilitarian -- in no way is it offensive. It seems exactly what I would envision any urban police precinct station would look like. I'm happy they are moving the current location out of the Bridgestone Arena -- far better use for that prime space.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Clark BarrJanuary 17, 2013 at 3:36 PM

    Where will the cops park their squad cars?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Clark BarrJanuary 17, 2013 at 3:37 PM

    Oh, and will there be any landscaping around the building? Hopefully it will cover up most of the hideous substation. Such a shame the city allowed NES to put it there.

    ReplyDelete
  10. William WilliamsJanuary 18, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    The NES substation will be skinned and, we hope, look much better. The police building -- from what I can determine -- may or may not conceal much of the substation building. It does seem it will run along a lot fronting KVB and that currently is empty.

    The building should be solid. I'm fine with it.

    WW

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 2:06 PM

    What are your thoughts on the new building underway at the Madison police precinct aka Peterbilt plant? And the whole complex which is being re-purposed?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 4:30 PM

    Will look dated in a few years. Should have gone for a more traditional, human-scaled design with brick.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2013 at 7:46 AM

    When I saw it, it sorta reminded me of the Pompidou Center in Paris. Of course, it's still very different from that building. It is probably a little cold for some people's taste, but for a city that doesn't seem to go modern very often, I think it will be a fine addition.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)