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.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Creating Places: Med Mart musings

Yesterday I bumped into a local architect who remains cautiously optimistic about the Nashville Medical Trade Center. The architect, whom I will not name but will note is not a member of the Gresham Smith & Partners team (GS&P is designing the mart), said the facility could be a game-changer for downtown on various levels. I agree.

I see the chances of the NMTC materializing as 50-50.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 19, 2011 at 7:20 AM

    Sadly, the healthcare companies based here are not lining up to support this project. Go figure: it would seem to be an advantage to have suppliers and a knowledge hub in your backyard. Just like HCA has been in so many ways an absentee corporate "citizen", tucked away (as it were) in a far corner of Centennial Park, and occupying a squatty row of warehouse-type offices. So they don't spend precious resources on building, plant and property, right? You've obviously not seen the marble lined, palatial executive offices on the top floor of those nondescript buildings. HCA, LPNT, CYH, HW, et.al. I don't give this a 20% chance.

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  2. William WilliamsDecember 20, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    A-Mous,

    You are not alone. Many folks give this project no more than a 10 to 20 percent chance.

    WW

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