SAVE THE SULLIVAN TOWER

[smeagolsfree]

The AEG project will be going where the Sullivan tower was.

[rookzie]

4 hours ago, rolly said:

@chris holman oh man thanks for the video link. That was a great demo.  What a bummer that Sullivan Tower had to go. I saw the Lifeway tower implosion but someone missed this one.   Thanks for sharing!

It broke many hearts and evoked much anger and disgust, @rolly ─ not only at the developer, but also at Metro in general for never having any provision to put some teeth into historic preservation.  One really can't blame solely the developer, because he has the autonomy to build as he pleases, according to the purpose and conformity of a redev. initiative.  Once it was announced in winter-2014 that Lifeway Christian had planned to sell its campus to Southwest Value Partners, I had an impulse that the tower would not be saved, even though Robbie Jones, a board member of Historic Nashville Inc., said "They [Southwest Value] will make good decisions that value the character and authenticity of Nashville" and that "they have an appreciation for Nashville's heritage and want to be good corporate citizens."  I just knew better, even that far in advance, almost 4-1/2 years prior to actual demolition.

The "satellite" city of Belle Meade has started to create a conservation overlay to protect its historic character, and that would mean all requests for demolitions and new construction within the designated historic zone would be subject to review by a newly-appointed Historic Zoning Commission.   The Metro area as a whole never has had such a leverage on historic preservation.  IMO the Sullivan Tower was a rare example of "post-war Art Deco", since by that point in US commercial construction the true Art-Deco period basically ended in the US with the advent of WW-II.   The Sullivan had that transitional post-modern "simplified", functional look, with limestone cladding blended with a striking classical theme of contrasting, embedded carved thick red granite portal surrounding the main entry, as well as red granite "water-table" projection at the foundation around the entire structure.   As far as Nashville was concerned, the Sullivan was a rare example of an Art-Deco high-rise (11 stories).  We lost two previous (and probably the only other) examples of Art-Deco high-rises in the city ─ the Sudekum Building and the National Life and Accident Insurance Bldg, razed in the early '90s and the late '70s, respectively.  I don't count the L&C Tower as being Art Deco, since its construction spanned the mid-to-late 1950s.

You can tell that I was really passionate about the loss of the Sullivan, and with its recent loss, I'm sort of adopting a "don't give a damn" attitude on preservation within the city, after having witnessed the leveling of many other commercial or institutional structures built during or prior to the post-Korean War period.  With that said, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see another favorite, the post-modern Beaux-Arts Revival NES building, eventually come down in its entirety.  Do I care?  I try not to (only can try not).  Both the NES and the Sullivan were opened during my early childhood around 1952 or '53.

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by rookzie

[Nathan_in_DC]

3 hours ago, rookzie said:

It broke many hearts and evoked much anger and disgust, @rolly ─ not only at the developer, but also at Metro in general for never having any provision to put some teeth into historic preservation.  One really can't blame solely the developer, because he has the autonomy to build as he pleases, according to the purpose and conformity of a redev. initiative.  Once it was announced in winter-2014 that Lifeway Christian had planned to sell its campus to Southwest Value Partners, I had an impulse that the tower would not be saved, even though Robbie Jones, a board member of Historic Nashville Inc., said "They [Southwest Value] will make good decisions that value the character and authenticity of Nashville" and that "they have an appreciation for Nashville's heritage and want to be good corporate citizens."  I just knew better, even that far in advance, almost 4-1/2 years prior to actual demolition.

The "satellite" city of Belle Meade has started to create a conservation overlay to protect its historic character, and that would mean all requests for demolitions and new construction within the designated historic zone would be subject to review by a newly-appointed Historic Zoning Commission.   The Metro area as a whole never has had such a leverage on historic preservation.  IMO the Sullivan Tower was a rare example of "post-war Art Deco", since by that point in US commercial construction the true Art-Deco period basically ended in the US with the advent of WW-II.   The Sullivan had that transitional post-modern "simplified", functional look, with limestone cladding blended with a striking classical theme of contrasting, embedded carved thick red granite portal surrounding the main entry, as well as red granite "water-table" projection at the foundation around the entire structure.   As far as Nashville was concerned, the Sullivan was a rare example of an Art-Deco high-rise (11 stories).  We lost two previous (and probably the only other) examples of Art-Deco high-rises in the city ─ the Sudekum Building and the National Life and Accident Insurance Bldg, razed in the early '90s and the late '70s, respectively.  I don't count the L&C Tower as being Art Deco, since its construction spanned the mid-to-late 1950s.

You can tell that I was really passionate about the loss of the Sullivan, and with its recent loss, I'm sort of adopting a "don't give a damn" attitude on preservation within the city, after having witnessed the leveling of many other commercial or institutional structures built during or prior to the post-Korean War period.  With that said, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see another favorite, the post-modern Beaux-Arts Revival NES building, eventually come down in its entirety.  Do I care?  I try not to (only can try not).  Both the NES and the Sullivan were opened during my early childhood around 1952 or '53.

 

I hear ya, Rookzie. It's tough to balance my desire for conservation with improvement and growth. I want more than anything a return to a walkable, vibrant, 24-hour downtown that I, having been born in the first half of the '80s, was never able to previously experience. But I also want to keep the parts of Nashville that make it what it is. A city entirely made of shiny new buildings, all built within a 10 year period, has little in the way of soul. The peppering of new with old makes a city vibrant and interesting.

I especially am saddened when a building like The Sullivan is torn down when there are so many parking lots, brownfields, or architecturally uninteresting and non-historic recent builds are still remaining in the city. If the Sullivan tower was the last block left in the CBD, then I'd be more sympathetic, but it was far from it.