Repurposed/revitalized historical buildings in Nashville

[markhollin]

The Frost Building was one of the original structures built for the Southern Baptist Convention's Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources) in 1913, at 161 8th Ave. North. It is a great example of Classical Revival architecture. Indications are that Southwest Ventures plans on keeping the grand structure as part of their massive redevelopment of the LifeWay Campus that will be known as Nashville Yards.

 

[markhollin]

With the redevelopment of the LifeWay Campus into Nashville Yards, along with the eventual re-imagining of the Tennessean's 10-acre campus, the new Endeavor site, and all the activity in the Gulch...I got to thinking what might happen someday in the forgotten area UNDER the Broadway Viaduct.  So, one morning recently I walked across the CSX tracks, climbed over several trains that were parked there, and did some exploring. I know it's kinda spooky right now, but I could see an area of shops, perhaps a couple of restaurant/clubs, maybe even an outdoor stage under the protection of the span above, etc.  The primary challenge would be parking, since there is no direct entranceway into the site...but that could add to it's uniqueness.  Maybe the area could be dubbed "Below Broadway."

A couple of well-lit stairways on either side of the viaduct above could lead downwards (perhaps an elevator as well).  If a below-grade parking garage is built beneath the new Hyatt Regency along Broadway in the Nashville Yards development, then there could be an entrance from that side, too.  I think there's a lot of potential for this, especially as more foot-traffic abounds with all of the new entities within several blocks over the next decade.

I'm not sure if this land is owned by CSX (at one time there were three sets of tracks that ran underneath Union Station that served as the primary conduits for passenger trains back in the day).  But one thing is for certain, the area has sat unattended for at least 4 decades.

Perhaps those three arched train entrances could be reopened to some development under Union Station and leading upwards to the gorgeous lobby above. Or, maybe (fingers crossed!) someday they could be reconstituted as part of a new passenger terminal that would run underneath the hotel and back into the parking lot where the former railway shed stood on the south side of Union Station.

Anyway---it's all fodder for discussion.

Looking south underneath the viaduct at the three 16' tall former train entrances below Union Station:

 

Looking up at Union Station from under the south side of the viaduct.  This is where one of the stairways/elevators could be installed:

 

Looking east with Broadway above.  Some interesting shops or eateries/clubs might fit back in there.

 

Looking up at Union Station from the eastern area below:

 

Looking west at three three archways:

 

Looking south:

 

Looking east:

 

Looking north from the archways. You can see that there is no auto access due to the CSX tracks hemming-in the whole area. That is the massive backside of the LifeWay/Nashville Yards campus on the right:

 

Looking eastward up at the viaduct from the tracks:

 

Looking south.  The wall along the left is the backside of the LifeWay Campus.   The new Hyatt Regency will be built along that section facing Broadway. Hopefully that billboard monstrosity will come down.  

[rookzie]

There actually were four passenger boarding tracks, all of which I had to use from the 1950s through around April 1968, when the railroad stationmaster shut down the eastern-most tracks used for passenger boarding.  There was a platform separated by a single track on the east and one on the west side of the station headhouse foundation, and each of these two platforms provided across-the-platform boarding of two side-by-side trains, a practice which lasted into January 1969.  There also were, I recall 4 stub tracks on the south side, beneath the train shed, and these were primarily dedicated for Postal mail and for the Railway Express Agency package handling.   Then there were 4 stub tracks leading beneath the north side of the headhouse and used for locomotive quick-servicing, such as windshield washing and fueling, which eventually was moved to the outside, as passenger trains became much shorter over time (locomotives of these short trains could remain intact with their trains and be spotted next to the relocated fueling racks).  Finally, there was a bypass track beneath Railway Express / baggage room house (now The Flying Saucer), and a few service and layover tracks on the north end for Pullman sleeping-car passengers, who were allowed to board early or to remain late, when their assigned cars were not attached to a train.

I still can recall a period when all 4 tracks had been simultaneously occupied by passenger trains, when trains still served Cincinnati, Louisville, St Louis, Evansville, Terre Haute, and Chicago, and also a local to Memphis, all from one direction, and to points south -- Atlanta, Jacksonville, B'ham, Montgomery, Biloxi, and New Orleans, and also locals to Franklin, Columbia, Lawrenceburg, and Pulaski.  There actually were crowds as late as 1963.

So much has been dismantled that it barely can be even recognized as vestiges.  Unless the station headhouse could be reclaimed for transportation purposes, adaptive re-use of all that remaining ground-level structure might appear out of reach.  Cleveland has done a rather decent job of adapting its Terminal Tower (now Tower City) to rapid transit and mixed use.  As mentioned a while in the past, Cincinnati has accomplished this to an extent, although not to the ground level.  Those bricked-up arches shown in Mark's photos were wide open back in the '70s, and during 1973, I braved entry into the open and partitioned space beneath the station, indeed very spooky, even with a flashlight at 11:00 pm on a Friday night during winter.  It wasn't until the re-use of the station as a hotel that all that space was transformed into mechanical utilities, hotel servicing areas, and some tenant rooms, thereby requiring the full enclosing of the ground level.  The third photo shows the escalator alongside the then-original stairs from the west end of the concourse to track-side.   This was one of two escalators, one added to each end of the concourse around 1949, while half-turn-landing stairs led from the concourse center, to the 4 stub tracks leading south.

Edited January 19, 2017 by rookzie

[titanhog]

^^I bet 99% of Nashvillians don't even know there are tunnels down there.  When I drive over that section, it never enters my mind that something like that could be down there.  It's cool and spooky both at the same time.

[markhollin]

Thanks for your input, Rookzie....I figured you would know a great deal about the lower areas underneath Union Station and the viaduct.  So much appreciation for all you bring to this forum.  : )

[Canuck87]

I saw this picture of the Sulfur Dell ballpark from 1908. I know this isn't a "revitalized building" per se, but more of a revitalized location. The pic may have been posted in the past, but I thought it was cool and worth sharing just in case.

 

[volsfanwill]

Mark, stay away from that fence on the east side, that is where the alligator pond is!

[markhollin]

Cardio Barre, a high-intensity work-out facility,  is the new tenant in the 1-story brick building at 1512 8th Ave. South that was originally built in 1950. They've done a nice job sprucing up the look of the 2,175 sq. ft. structure, which has had many different retail uses in it's 67-year existence.  Had been sitting empty for a while.  

[titanhog]

^^That's a very nice, clean and classy looking update.

[markhollin]

"First National Bank built their 12-story building in 1905. It was Nashville’s first “skyscraper,” a type of building made possible by the advent of rapid, reliable elevators. Over the years it has been known as the Independent Life Building, Third National Bank Building, the J.C. Bradford Building, and, since 1998, the Courtyard by Marriott. Third National Bank acquired the building in 1938, and, with an addition to the east side, doubled the size of the building. New Art Deco detailing replaced the exterior’s original Neoclassical ornamentation. In 1986, the last tenants moved out and the building sat vacant for a decade. The building was threatened with demolition until its renovation for use as a hotel."  (from the Downtown Nashville Partnerships website)
 

 

Circa 1940:

 

Bank Lobby, circa 1940:

 

Hotel lobby today:

 

They retained a lot of the ornate metal work when refitting the lobby for the hotel:

 

Front desk:

 

Samples of rooms:

[dmillsphoto]

Probably the highest-end Courtyard in their portfolio...

[MidTenn1]

Regarding the Courtyard by Marriott renovation discussed above, they really dodged a bullet on this one. I worked for a local engineering office in the late 80's and I was tasked with some of the preliminary work on a proposed 24 story building for that lot. I even had a set of plans on my desk at home for a while.

As I recall, the building was going to have a massing similar to this crude rendering I just now made. I wish I had kept a copy of the original. But it was exciting at the time as a 24 story building (345+/- ft) would have stood out on the skyline. And yes it would have been as ugly as the rendering suggests. Note the gabled roof on top.

[Canuck87]

With Metro Parks having recently completed its master plan for Two Rivers Mansion and the surrounding 11 acre site, I thought it was appropriate to post a blurb about the home's history. For those interested, the entire 150+ page master plan is available here: http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Historic-Sites/Two-Rivers-Mansion.aspx

Two Rivers Mansion , one of the last of the elaborate antebellum country homes built in the Nashville area and one of the earliest and best preserved of the ornate Italianate houses in Middle Tennessee, was once part of an 1100 acre plantation located on fertile, rolling land between the Stones and Cumberland rivers. The junction of the two rivers suggested the name given to the property by its first owner, William Harding whose family built the Belle Meade plantation in west Nashville.

The mansion, built by David McGavock in 1859 on the eve of the Civil War for his beautiful bride,William (Willie) Elizabeth Harding but not finished until the 1870’s, was inhabited by the McGavock family for three generations until 1965, when the last heir died and the property was purchased by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Today the fourteen acre tract, which includes the mansion and one of Nashville’s oldest brick houses built in 1802, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Closeness to Nashville, frontage on the rivers, and the abundance of springs, wild game and rich soil made the Two Rivers property valuable from the first time it was settled in the 1790’s. Among the original owners of portions of the land was Andrew Jackson who resided close by on Hunters Hills before he purchased the Hermitage. The first home built on the property in 1802, a two-story brick house in the Federal style by David Buchanan, still stands to the rear of the larger 1859 mansion.

William Harding purchased the 476 acres farm in 1819 from Willie Barrow at the confluence of the Cumberland and Stones River. Harding acquired additional land totaling 1100 acres before settling down and marrying local Elizabeth Clopton in 1830; he died in 1832 shortly before their only child was born. Daughter William Elizabeth Harding named in honor of her parents, would inherit the plantation upon her marriage to her cousin David H. McGavock in 1850. The young couple and their one son, Frank, lived in the 1802 house while they planned and built the mansion in their backyard which was finished in 1859. One can see the names “David, Willie and Frank” stamped in three of the bricks on the back porch. The bricks and the millwork were crafted on the plantation by slave labor.

In the 1880’s the thriving estate was known as the Two Rivers Stock Farm with livestock, garden, orchard, a dairy operation, fox hunting and also the center for Morgan horse breeding. One document states that there were over fifty buildings on the property at one time such as barns, horse stalls, tenant houses and sheds. Many of these buildings were destroyed by a tornado in 1933. Frank McGavock took possession of the farm for a short time period in the late 1890’s, which was near bankruptcy after the financial Panic of 1893 and subsequent severe depression. To keep from losing the property, Frank’s only son Spence, inherited the estate and leased out the farm in the early 1900s while he worked as a shoe salesman.

Spence McGavock married Mary Louise Bransford of Melrose in 1928. The couple remodeled the mansion, adding plumbing, electricity and heat. They lived at Two Rivers only four years, though, returning to her family home at Melrose , after her mother’s death in 1933. Three years later in 1936 Spence McGavock died, and for the next eighteen years his widow remained at Melrose while caretakers continued the Two Rivers farming operations.

Mary Louise Bransford McGavock returned to Two Rivers in 1954, where she said she had always been happiest and remained until the time of her death in November 1965, the last of the McGavock family. Her will named several family members, friends and employees as beneficiaries. She also instructed that the remainder of her estate be sold to be used for the operation or expansion of the Division of Hermatology at Vanderbilt Hospital and Medical School. This research fund, named the William S. Bransford Fund in honor of her father, is still providing assistance.

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Canuck87

[markhollin]

Opened in 1906, the 4-story, 43,800 sq. ft. building at 144 2nd Ave. North, has been purchased for $8.4 million by two local businessmen, David Creed and Ryan Chapman.  They plan to spend millions in renovations, including a restaurant/bar on the 7,500 sq. ft. first level that has high ceilings and historic stone walls.  They already have nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of the office space accounted for with leases.

"Hidden behind the Pilcher Building's walls are gorgeous stone, brick, and timber beams that will serve as the base for state-of-the-art improvements including a new mechanical system, energy efficient upgrades and exterior modifications with great attention to historic detail," says Creed.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2017/01/20/nashvilles-historic-pilcher-building-sold-upgrades-planned/96865164/

 

[markhollin]

The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge was built in 1909, and was originally known as the Sparkman Street Bridge and then later as the Shelby Street Bridge. It was built one block south of Broadway, connecting Sparkman Street and Shelby Avenue. The bridge was constructed at a cost of about $475,000 and has a 3,150 foot span. Another bridge called the Jefferson Street Bridge which was virtually identical to it was built at the same time. The Jefferson Street Bridge was opened a year after the Sparkman Street Bridge, and was torn down in 1990. The substructures of the bridges were light grey concrete, and the superstructures were made of steel that had been painted black. The bridge was the first in North America to have concrete arched trusses. In 1998 it was admitted to the National Register of Historic Places.

It has become a Nashville icon, and is very well-travelled by pedestrians, both local and tourist. The night time lighting has added to it's charm.

 

Under construction in 1908:

 

Sparkman Street Bridge (as it was known then) in 1920. 

[markhollin]

The Husk restaurant at 37 Rutledge Street on Rutledge Hill is within an 3,250 sq. ft. southern mansion built in 1879.  From the website:  "...the home was originally constructed into the side of a hill between 1879 and 1882 by Dr. John Bunyan Stephens. Its storied history includes serving as Mayor Richard Houston Dudley’s home, where he lived when elected in 1897. The area was settled by the Rutledge and Middleton families of Charleston who were descendants of two of the original South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mayor Dudley added the Carriage House located on property in 1890—which will serve as a space to satisfy the restaurant’s culinary whims and host private/special events. The design of the Husk’s interior spaces enhances the building’s roots while demonstrating a sense of Southern style, modernity, energy, and cosmopolitan flair."

 

[AUNash]

Thanks for your input, Rookzie....I figured you would know a great deal about the lower areas underneath Union Station and the viaduct.  So much appreciation for all you bring to this forum.  : )

Awesome expedition man! My kind of fun.

[markhollin]

The Litterer Building at 631 2nd Ave. South is a 4 story, 25,863 sq. ft. structure has a unique rounded back side.

"The Litterer Laboratory building was constructed in 1895 for the University of Nashville Medical School. The school merged with the University of Tennessee Medical in 1909 and later relocated to Memphis. In 1915, the building was purchased by William Litterer who donated it to Vanderbilt University in honor of his nephew, William Litterer Jr. who as a pathologist, bacteriologist and Vanderbilt professor. During World War I the building was used for research on chemical weapons led by Dr. Litterer. In 1925 Vanderbilt closed its downtown locations including the Laboratory. The building has since been used by a variety of businesses including a hardware store, a restaurant and others. The building is now used by a landscape design and civil engineering firm." (from Waymarking.com)

I've also included at aerial drone video below the photos that shows off the wonderful lines of the building. 

 

 

 

 

[Neigeville2]

^my favorite building in this city.  And the small building next door is amazing as well.

[markhollin]

Wamble & Assoc. Architects repurposed the circa 1900, 2-story Rutledge Hill house at 40 Middleton Street. 

[titanhog]

Does anyone know what is the oldest structure in Nashville?

[fieldmarshaldj]

11 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Does anyone know what is the oldest structure in Nashville?

Excellent question. There are some from the late 1700s. A private home out here in Antioch is one of the earliest still in existence.

[dmillsphoto]

32 minutes ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

Excellent question. There are some from the late 1700s. A private home out here in Antioch is one of the earliest still in existence.

My realtor who sold me my house owns that place. It's in the most unsuspecting of places, considering.

[donNdonelson2]

Looks like the home in Antioch dates to 1805. The first home on the Two Rivers property dates to 1802.

I 

From the Friends of Two Rivers website:

Edited January 29, 2017 by donNdonelson2
Addition

[titanhog]

^^Wow!  Didn't realize there were structures that old still standing around here.  What a gem!!