Creating Places: MCC Construction Update

I recently talked to an official working on the Music City Center construction site. He noted full-fledged excavation should start by mid-March, with the effort to require about five months. Also, we should expect to eventually see on the site no fewer than six tower cranes (some rising, I would think, upwards of 200 feet) along with various mobile cranes. In terms of both sheer number and "visual impact"of cranes, urban Nashville will have never seen anything quite like this. I suppose work on the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center was as "crane impressive." But the MCC site is so visible from the south interstate inner loop and to those who work and live downtown and high above SoBro as to create a powerful construction presence that vastly more people will notice than was the case with Opryland Hotel.

We "built environment addicts" should brace for some serious construction.

Creating Places: Tuck Hinton Visit

Today, I visited the offices of Tuck Hinton Architects and got the "tour" from Kem Hinton. Of note, I saw a model and images of the proposed Tennessee State Library and Archives Building to eventually be constructed in North Capitol and bordered by Jefferson Street on the north and Fourth and Fifth avenues on the east and west. A very handsome building. Clad primarily in limestone, about 80-90 feet at its tallest points, lots of columns and a courtyard. Grand looking but in a clean, 21st century way. Will be an excellent addition to Nashville's already impressive collection of civic buildings. Sadly, there is simply no start date announced, despite the project having been discussed for years.

Creating Places: 2009 Review, Part II

We resume with some random 2009 successes and disappointments regarding Nashville's manmade environment.

Major success: Deaderick Street overhaul.

Overlooked semi-success: The painting of three non-descript stucco buildings (those home to the Hampton Inn and Electronic Express, both on West End Avenue, and that home to the Ramada Inn in the shadows of LP Field). The buildings remain, obviously, architectural insignificant. But a facelift courtesy of some fresh paint has helped a tad. Similarly, the new-look Holiday Inn and McDonald's (both on West End) are nice improvements compared to their previous iterations.

Minimal success and a missed opportunity: TDOT's alteration of Hillsboro Road between I-440 and Graybar Lane. Traffic flows better and a sidewalk segment was added along the east side of the road at Woodmont Boulevard. Retaining walls and bus bench pads look nice and provide some functionality. Still, a full sidewalk spanning the east shoulder of Hillsboro would have been huge. Hundreds of folks live in the apartments and condos along that stretch and could have used a sidewalk to stroll to Green Hills on a nice day. Though acquiring the land for a sidewalk might have been tricky (and expensive), this was a lost opportunity. At the minimum, TDOT should have installed curbs on both sides of Hillsboro.

Painful losses: The quaint old-school building home to Mario's and located in Midtown burned to the ground. Furthermore, the vintage brick buildings along Church Street (catty-corner from the Downtown YMCA) and in the block bordered by Second, Third, Demonbreun and Malloy were demolished. LifeWay owned the former, while Giarratana Development owned the latter. There was a day when downtown and Midtown boasted a sea of cool old buildings. That day is long passed.

Creating Places: 2009 Review, Part I

As we look back, let's take a few blog posts (to be written spanning this week) to review some manmade environment highlights (and frustrations) from 2009.

I'll start with the one-two punch of the Belle Meade Town Center and Hill Center Belle Meade, both finished this calendar year. With their arrival, this segment of Harding Road was transformed with building density heretofore unheard of for this car-heavy mixed-use district. Note the various shapes, forms and colors of the many new buildings on either side of Harding. My favorite structure might be the new Pinnacle Bank Building that fronts the street.

Grade: A

Creating Places: Deaderick Street Kiosks

They may not be a sleek new skyscraper, a recently completed mixed-use building of striking 21st century design or a badly needed sidewalk (all of which this writer cherishes as much as enjoying spiked eggnog and How The Grinch Stole Christmas during the holiday season). But the new kiosks that are part of the now-finished — and tastefully done — Deaderick Street streetscape improvement project are outstanding additions to downtown Nashville. Large, colorful, detailed and useful, the kiosks are very big city.

Creating Places: Pinnacle Signage

Good to see the new signage on the cap of the handsome The Pinnacle at Symphony Place tower. Of note, the cap sports "Pinnacle" signs on its east and west faces, with the north and south sides left unadorned. Nice move, as signs on those two sides would have resulted in visual overkill.

On a negative note, however, the "P" in the signage is not visible at night.

On the "building signage theme," I'm not sure where I stand regarding the new Baker Donelson signage (which replaced the Caremark Rx sign) on the east side of the building cap of 211 Commerce Center. Though acceptable, the sign is a bit too plain, offering no color or distinctive shape. However, at night, it is clearly seen (unlike the Pinnacle signs).

With the addition of the Pinnacle signs, the Nashville skyline now boasts 14 buildings of 80 feet or taller with tops sporting signage that is both lit at night and visible from great distances.

Creating Places: Random East Side Notes

Driving East Nashville yesterday, I took a close look at the contemporary building that appears finished and that sits on the northeast corner of the intersection of 10th and Main streets. I'm not sure what type business the structure will accommodate, but I am certain of this: The building, with its 90-degree-angled geometric forms and understated color scheme contrasts significantly with the hideous home to Hunter's Custom Automotive and the handsome East Literature Magnet School/East Middle School buildings that sandwich it.

On the east side theme, work on the "new-look" masonic lodge on the southeast corner of 14th Street and Eastland Avenue continues. I'm afraid the architects of the building, which will replace a 1950s-era non-descript brick structure, might have designed the reincarnated facility to look like some type of semi-stately civic building. Could be a misstep.

Check this post, which explains possible design concerns nicely:

http://www.mail-archive.com/east-nashville@googlegroups.com/msg38541.html