551 replies to this topic

[nashvol85]

The primary options for the Nashville Convention Center seem to be either expansion to the north or south of the existing facility, which will cost a lot of money (demolition + downtown real estate) or to build a new facility (I hear in the neighborhood of 400,000 sq ft) somewhere near by...

I was just thinking, as Nashville's midtown (West End area) developes, why not build a brand new convention center on Broadway between West End and downtown? There seems to be a little bit more space on that side of town anyways...maybe they could move one of those car dealerships out of the way and put it next to where West End Summit will sit.

Here's a map of the area that I'm talkin' about to any of ya'll that aren't familiar:

http://terraserver-u...296&Y=10002&W=1

[DallasTexan]

No. That would further create flight from downtown and then the city would REALLY start to develop like central Atlanta.

Suddenly, West End would be the "new" downtown, ala Midtown Atlanta.

[Viper]

400,000 sq. feet exhibition space or total?   Now how can we talk our city council and mayor and many of the general population that we need one of those in Jacksonville too?

78k of exhibition space just isn't cutting it.

[nashvol85]

DallasTexan, on Mar 8 2005, 07:26 PM, said:

No. That would further create flight from downtown and then the city would REALLY start to develop like central Atlanta.

Suddenly, West End would be the "new" downtown, ala Midtown Atlanta.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True, but I'm not sure if there is a spot big enough right downtown that would suit a new building. This would be even closer to the interstate, and would be between downtown and the West End area.  I would much rather see mid and high rises built in that area (between 10th and 17th Ave.'s) than continue to have what resides there (car dealerships).  Besides, with all of the historic areas downtown, there is not much more space in the middle of town to build such a large building.





Hell, maybe they could put it between the interstate and the Gulch. Nothing impressive or worth saving sits there right now.

[nashvol85]

Viper, on Mar 8 2005, 08:20 PM, said:

400,000 sq. feet exhibition space or total?   Now how can we talk our city council and mayor and many of the general population that we need one of those in Jacksonville too?

78k of exhibition space just isn't cutting it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Total I believe.  400,000 sq ft was a figure given for a proposal to be built on the old steam plant property, which will now be where the new AAA Ball Park for the Sounds sits.

[satalac]

i agree with you nashvol85, i wanna see it in the gulch too. maybe then they could tear down the existing convention center and put more mixed use space on broadway (more condos and another grocery store and shops at the bottom).

[nashvol85]

satalac, on Mar 8 2005, 08:58 PM, said:

i agree with you nashvol85, i wanna see it in the gulch too. maybe then they could tear down the existing convention center and put more mixed use space on broadway (more condos and another grocery store and shops at the bottom).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree that it would help open up some prime real estate in the middle of town, but I would be somewhat worried about the Renaissance Hotel, since they no doubt depend on the Convention Center (and the Arena) for a considerable portion of their business.  I wouldn't mind seeing some retail/restaurants built in that area...maybe it could feed off of some of that lower Broad tourist traffic.  I think we need more of that if we are going to lure more people to live downtown...that and stop Cool Springs/Maryland Farms from robbing our office space! Lol...

[sleepy]

Anyone willing to question the assumption that any city needs a new convention center?

Studies came out recently describing convention-center-mania as pie in the sky.

Tourism and convention centers create a lot of low-paying jobs anyway, and are ultimately a form of corporate welfare.  Perhaps the city would be better off using the funds to work on light rail, neighborhood redevelopment, etc.

Edited by sleepy, 08 March 2005 - 07:46 PM.

[satalac]

nashvol85, on Mar 8 2005, 07:14 PM, said:

I agree that it would help open up some prime real estate in the middle of town, but I would be somewhat worried about the Renaissance Hotel, since they no doubt depend on the Convention Center (and the Arena) for a considerable portion of their business.  I wouldn't mind seeing some retail/restaurants built in that area...maybe it could feed off of some of that lower Broad tourist traffic.  I think we need more of that if we are going to lure more people to live downtown...that and stop Cool Springs/Maryland Farms from robbing our office space! Lol...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i don't think the renaissance would be affected too much. it would still be within walking distance (a bit longer of a walk than it is now, granted) of the hotel. and i would like to stop cool springs and maryland farms, but then again that's where most of my business comes from, so i kind of need them there. haha.

[nashvol85]

sleepy, on Mar 8 2005, 09:43 PM, said:

Anyone willing to question the assumption that any city needs a new convention center?

Studies came out recently describing convention-center-mania as pie in the sky.

Tourism and convention centers create a lot of low-paying jobs anyway, and are ultimately a form of corporate welfare.  Perhaps the city would be better off using the funds to work on light rail, neighborhood redevelopment, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't question it.  I like car shows.

[it's just dave]

I've had some outspoken ambivalence on this topic. I'm familiar with the Brookings studies and understand fully their honest and practical approach to the facts. I'm still on the fence about this. The fact is that we don't have only a smaller downtown convention facility and that's it. We have a smaller downtown convention facility backed up with a huge convention facility and the enormous Gaylord Resort a few short miles from downtown. What's the Gaylord got, and I'm guessing, 500,000 square feet and a 3,000 room hotel....and we're sneezing at that? Please.

Do we NEED a new convention center? I don't know. I think we could get along just fine without a new building, or even a generous expansion of the downtown facility. The 400,000 sq ft number was from the extensive study on the city's "needs" wherever the thing was built. I don't think the thermal site has been considered lately at all. The Gulch is pretty much spoken for and a convention center is not in the picture. Construction should start soon on a $100 million retail center there, new residential, new office, the new mid-rise mixed use tower which will ultimately rise at 12th and Demonbreun, and all the components to turn this area in to an urban and LOCAL neighborhood, as it should. There's plenty of land south of Broadway between the Gateway Boulevard positioning and the south loop which are underutilized and exist in a manner which would create connectivity between the newly revitalized areas surrounding the CDB and the site of a new convention center. The Hampton Suites is going up there, and Mr. Peabody is still salivating over downtown Nashville.

I'm certainly not against a new convention center, but as the new property assements are mailed soon and my property surely escalates in value as my "trendy" neighborhood always does, coupled with the increase in the Metro School's submitted budget, I study this with caution, especially when I know where the money to pay for it will partially come from.

We don't "need" to commit huge amounts of money to "compete" with other places who are already seeing the red ink and feeling the ache in the pits of their fiscally growling stomachs. Nashville is fortunate almost beyond fairness in the amount of press we get. Sure there's the country music windfalls, now, it's Paris Hilton and that nonsense, and to dispel the ridiculous assumptions that Nashville "doesn't even have a zoo," we're featured on the Animal Planet March 10th and 18th because we not only have a zoo, but we have a world class, Ultimate Zoo in the works. But that's only part of the point. I believe Nashville could do itself a favor if it could just ignore the pressures of having a new slick convention facility to bleed us all year long, and just do it's best to fill the one(s) we have.

We've got the goods kids, we don't have to prove ourselves, we just have to be fiscally responsible and carefully fill out deposit slips for the billions we generate every year from the millions of people who come here and do so with WHAT WE HAVE. (at least for the time being)

People will come, whether we build anything else or not. So, if a center is in our future and its doable without breaking a bank (especially mine), that's fine and wonderful. If we land a Six Flags type of thing somewhere, sometime, fine and wonderful.

But with what's going on around here right now, people won't know the place in as little as two years. Brace yourselves.

[nashvol85]

it's just dave, on Mar 9 2005, 12:03 AM, said:

I've had some outspoken ambivalence on this topic. I'm familiar with the Brookings studies and understand fully their honest and practical approach to the facts. I'm still on the fence about this. The fact is that we don't have only a smaller downtown convention facility and that's it. We have a smaller downtown convention facility backed up with a huge convention facility and the enormous Gaylord Resort a few short miles from downtown. What's the Gaylord got, and I'm guessing, 500,000 square feet and a 3,000 room hotel....and we're sneezing at that? Please.

I know that Gaylord has a huge facility on the east side of town, but the only thing that is convenient to is the airport.  A downtown facility would be more beneficial to the entire city...(I'm also still a little pissed over what Gaylord has been doing to us in the past few years...I wouldn't be surprised if they went bankrupt some time in the future)

[showtime21]

I would like the see the new convention center in the west end area. Downtown has to much traffic as it is. I would also like for nashville to take aim after kansas city's convention center. How about the scrap yard, they could built a convention center on the east bank with a covered bridge arcoss the cumberland with a connection to the new sounds stadium..

[sleepy]

According to certain forum friends, the only convention center in the world that's doing bang up busines is the Jefferson County Convention Center in Birmingham.

This guy's a ringer.  I suspect Sheraton pays him to post disinformation.

Edited by sleepy, 11 March 2005 - 06:52 PM.

[DevinLee]

HEY old man, check www.sheraton.com/birmingham for tonight AND tomorrow night. We're full, yet again!



(This is Justin)

[doormanpoet]

The convention center could always build up. Add more floors. In NYC my cousin built skyscrapers. He said they add floors to existing buildings all of the time. Nashville could use some of these surface parking lots and add more space without razing any buildings.

[DallasTexan]

DevinLee, on Mar 11 2005, 09:03 PM, said:

HEY old man, check www.sheraton.com/birmingham for tonight AND tomorrow night. We're full, yet again!



(This is Justin)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, what he (me) said!

[sleepy]

DevinLee, on Mar 11 2005, 09:03 PM, said:

HEY old man, check www.sheraton.com/birmingham for tonight AND tomorrow night. We're full, yet again!



(This is Justin)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Half of whom are your friends who got the SSP discount. lol

[doormanpoet]

The Nashville Convention Center could also be expanded where they are tearing down some of the projects.

[satalac]

doormanpoet, on Mar 12 2005, 09:02 PM, said:

The Nashville Convention Center could also be expanded where they are tearing down some of the projects.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

what projects?