Repurposed/revitalized historical buildings in Nashville

[donNdonelson2]

For sixty-five years the Benson family operated a small grocery store at the corner of Central Pike and Dodson Chapel Road in Hermitage. When they opened their store the area was largely rural, with grocery shopping options surely limited. They held on and maintained a small but loyal clientele until they decided to close the business in 2015, retire and sell the property. The building has undergone extensive renovation and is now home to Wellspring Builders, with a small commercial space still available for lease. 

All posted images are from the WWW. Map & photo of the renovated building are from our friend Mr. Google. (NOT Barney Google, with the goo-goo googely eyes!)

[markhollin]

Historic Roxy Theater at 827 Meridian Street in Cleveland Park purchased for $1.3 million by Elliot Kyle, and to be transformed into a live entertainment venue with restaurant aspect. Built in 1930, the structure originally had 250 seats, and has nearly 9,000 sq. ft. of space.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/09/20/restaurant-and-music-venue-likely-coming-to.html

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2016/09/20/east-nashvilles-historic-roxy-theater-sold-13-million/90731282/

http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/20834287/former-roxy-theater-to-be-given-new-life

http://www.nashvilleandbeyond.com/2013/11/04/save-the-roxy-theater/

What the Roxy looks like today:

 

What the Roxy looked like in the 1940s:

 

What the aditorium looked like in the 90s when being used as a church:

[CenterHill]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

Historic Roxy Theater at 827 Meridian Street in Cleveland Park purchased for $1.3 million by Elliot Kyle, and to be transformed into a live entertainment venue with restaurant aspect. Built in 1930, the structure originally had 250 seats, and has nearly 9,000 sq. ft. of space.
 

This is great news!    I love that it will be used again for live shows, rather than just some trendy restaurant in a former sinema theater.    

[markhollin]

"The James Geddes Engine Company No. 6 on 2nd Avenue South was constructed in 1886. The former firehouse is in a Victorian style. At the time of construction the fire department used horse drawn vehicles thus explaining the fairly narrow front garage door . The circular tower to the right of the building had the fireman pole which is still present. The fire station was named for James Geddes, a surveyor of the railroad line between Louisville and Nashville in the 1850s. After sitting vacant for a number of years the building has now been converted to attorneys' offices." (from Waymaker.com)

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Remains one of my favorite structures in the Rutledge Hill neighborhood.

 

[fieldmarshaldj]

^Personally, I think that old fire house is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city along with its neighbor to the south. If only today's buildings had the level of class, charm and style this little building does.

[Neigeville2]

The building just to the left of it is pretty amazing as well.

[PaulChinetti]

They just don't make brick anything like that anymore. For shame. If something is bricked, there is no style.

12 hours ago, Neigeville2 said:

The building just to the left of it is pretty amazing as well.

The building to the left says Litterer Laboratories - Vanderbilt University. Anybody know anything about that one?

[MLBrumby]

Noticed that brick looks very nice and carefully laid.  There is an old, repurposed saddlery building here in Chattanooga that has very interesting brickwork.  In short, it appears to be a sloppy job for much of the structure. When I visited an office there I got a closer look and noticed that there was once an "outer" coat of some masonry material but there's virtually none of it left. The building was built in the 1880s.  Does anyone know what it might have been and if that was a common construction practice?

[dmillsphoto]

16 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Noticed that brick looks very nice and carefully laid.  There is an old, repurposed saddlery building here in Chattanooga that has very interesting brickwork.  In short, it appears to be a sloppy job for much of the structure. When I visited an office there I got a closer look and noticed that there was once an "outer" coat of some masonry material but there's virtually none of it left. The building was built in the 1880s.  Does anyone know what it might have been and if that was a common construction practice?

paging @arkitekte

[arkitekte]

5 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Noticed that brick looks very nice and carefully laid.  There is an old, repurposed saddlery building here in Chattanooga that has very interesting brickwork.  In short, it appears to be a sloppy job for much of the structure. When I visited an office there I got a closer look and noticed that there was once an "outer" coat of some masonry material but there's virtually none of it left. The building was built in the 1880s.  Does anyone know what it might have been and if that was a common construction practice?

Thanks for the heads up on this, dmills. 

To answer your question, MLBrumby, someone hired a contractor at some point who had no idea how to handle historic masonry OR just didn't care to take the extra time/money to do the job right. He probably sand blasted the brick or used a high pressure water treatment to clean it which essentially removes the face of each brick. I guess you could look at the brick face like enamel on your teeth. Once you lose it, it's gone and it's vital to the health over the lifetime of the building. After 5 or so years, it's going to start to deteriorate, depending on the climate. 

The correct way, or safest way to clean brick or any other historic stone element is typically by hand. I'm not kidding, but Dove dish detergent and shoe brushes are what some contractors prefer. 

[markhollin]

The National Barbershop Harmony Society building at 110 7th Avenue North was built in 1923. The 3-story, 37,000 sq. ft. structure is another fine example of early Art Deco design, and a source of pride for the section around the Broadway/7th intersection that includes beauties like this, the Masonic Lodge, James Robertson Hotel, Hume Fogg H.S., and the Customs House.

 

[markhollin]

I hate thinking ill of any congregation, but the Life Church International at 819 Russell St. in East Nashville is struggling under the leadership of a questionable pastor.  In the process, this glorious circa-1905 sanctuary is starting to fall into disrepair.  Perhaps another church can negotiate its purchase, move in, and revitalize the structure.  Or maybe it could become an events center, or an entertainment venue.  Plenty of room for offices or some residential units in portions of the building as well. It is just 1/2 block south of Woodland Street, which is percolating with activity. There are 17,000 sq. ft. of usable space, and a 36-car parking lot across the street that is part of the property.

 

[nashvylle]

is this building protected from a developer buying it and tearing it down?

[markhollin]

So glad this large, handsome, 7,400 sq. ft. house, built in 1930, is going to stay amongst us. Located at 1516 16th Avenue South, there was talk that it would be torn down for a new complex a few years ago. First Citizens Bank of North Carolina has purchased it as their permanent Nashville office.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/real-estate/2016/09/27/first-citizens-bank-pays-3-million-new-music-row-headquarters/91191572/

 

[markhollin]

Looking SE along 3rd Avenue North:

 

Looking west along Banker's Alley where it intersects with Printer's Alley, up towards 3rd Avenue North:

 

Looking south along Printer's Alley near the intersection with Banker's Alley. Skull's Rainbow Room is in the basement of the Turf Club Building:

[rookzie]

Most of us "actively here", as opposed to lurkers", probably do not recall that the former downtown anchor Harvey's Department Store had a ride in addition to a merry-go-round.  Perhaps one or two of us may recall, after a memory job, that within in the toy department was a monorail "rocket", on which kids could ride (perhaps for a nickel or so) and which would glide around overhead along the ceiling of the then-huge toy department, that would have put Toys-r-Us to the weeds.

For years I have been unable to locate any known photos of this particular ride, but a bit of research has revealed photos of nearly identical such amusements in both Syracuse and Philadelphia during that concurrent period (1950s and early-mid '60s):

  John Wanamaker's Department Store - Philly & Edward's Department Store - Syracuse

These had been somewhat popular in a sizable number of other towns in the U.S. as well.  The rides at the Syracuse and Philly stores appear to have traversed a broader area (beyond the extents of a toy department) for a longer ride, compared to that of Harvey's.  The "Rocket" at Harvey's had been fitted with a fabricated fake rocket exhaust nozzle on the rear car.  As one could imagine, those rides had been rather noisy when operating, due to their small small steel trolley-like wheels along a a flanged-steel beam with no sound-attenuation, and the fabricated aluminum riveted bodies of the cars themselves only amplified the effect.  Shoppers below momentarily had to wait for the thing to pass overhead, before they could continue to talk among themselves and to sales persons.

 

Harvey's as viewed from Sixth and Church St.  The color scheme of the NTC city bus (Nashville Transit Co.) suggests that the date around 1965-66, as the hues of the black-and-white photo appear to correspond closely the then-new color scheme of green-on-silver adopted during that period.

 

Edward's of Syracuse

 

John Wanamaker's - later version

 

John Wanamaker's - earlier version

Edited October 2, 2016 by rookzie

[fieldmarshaldj]

12 hours ago, rookzie said:

Most of us "actively here", as opposed to lurkers", probably do not recall that the former downtown anchor Harvey's Department Store had a ride in addition to a merry-go-round.  Perhaps one or two of us may recall, after a memory job, that within in the toy department was a monorail "rocket", on which kids could ride (perhaps for a nickel or so) and which would glide around overhead along the ceiling of the then-huge toy department, that would have put Toys-r-Us to the weeds.

I don't remember that at all. I'm guessing they retired it by the time I was a little kid visiting the store in the mid-to-late '70s. It's possible the tracks may have still been on the ceiling, though. Nashville badly needs to have this type of novelty department store back again with all the bells and whistles (well, except for the monkeys-flinging-poo bar).

Edited October 2, 2016 by fieldmarshaldj

[markhollin]

Mad Donna's at 1313 Woodland St. in East Nashville has been many different restaurants and retail establishments since it was built 75 years ago. The two-story limestone brick structure was constructed in 1940, and has proven to be quite sturdy, yet flexible.

 

[markhollin]

Built in 1871, the Werthan Mills factory specialized in textiles in it's first 57 years of existence, then in 1928 it became the Werthan Bag Company. Hundreds of people worked there at any given time for close to 130 years.  In 1998, it was sold for redevelopment. Over the next decade, there were five phases of conversion from an aging factory to loft condos now known as Werthan Mills Lofts. It has helped spearhead the massive re-imagining of Germantown with concentrated, upscale urban living.

 

[markhollin]

The former showroom/warehouse for Jim Reed Chevrolet at the SW corner of Church and 16th Avenue North has always been ripe for repurposing.  Built in 1928, this two-story structure has 78,000 sq. ft. of space that could be turned into a large mixed-use facility, perhaps featuring a blend of antique mall, other retail, restaurants, event space, and offices.  As other development continues in the corridor between Charlotte Ave. and West End Ave., I think this property will get hotter and hotter.  

Looking SE from intersection of Church and 16th Ave. North:

 

 

Looking east along Church from intersection with 16th Ave. North:

 

Looking north from Midtown area:

[MLBrumby]

Great masonry work on that building. Do  you know if it was built for the car dealership, or did Reed buy it later for that purpose?  Reminds me a little bit of Brightleaf Square in Durham, NC. 

[Bezoar]

32 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Great masonry work on that building. Do  you know if it was built for the car dealership, or did Reed buy it later for that purpose?  Reminds me a little bit of Brightleaf Square in Durham, NC. 

It was, once upon a time, a Coca Cola bottling factory.  

[rookzie]

10 hours ago, markhollin said:

The former showroom/warehouse for Jim Reed Chevrolet at the SW corner of Church and 16th Avenue North has always been ripe for repurposing.  Built in 1928, this two-story structure has 78,000 sq. ft. of space that could be turned into a large mixed-use facility, perhaps featuring a blend of antique mall, other retail, restaurants, event space, and offices.  As other development continues in the corridor between Charlotte Ave. and West End Ave., I think this property will get hotter and hotter.  
 

I use to work in that building during early and mid-1974, before Jim Reed acquired it.  Wometco Coca Cola Bottling Co used that structure, before that firm moved to its then-new location by at Bransford Ave and Craighead St. ─ I believe around the late 1970s.  Being by the train tracks (a connection called "Southern Junction"), It then was able to use rail conveyance (Cargill and ADM tank cars), instead of trucking, for the corn syrup commodity.  At that time Wometco Bottling, then part of a larger diverse enterprise which also included cable TV, was one of the largest franchisees for Coca Cola.  Coca Cola Consolidated long since acquired Wometco Bottling (over 30 years ago).

My job was to repair vending machine coin changers, and I was "supposed" to turn in any change found hung in the changer assemblies, during repair.  Cokes, along with a regional brand of "stout-tasting" (strong) flavor of grape and of orange pop (soda), named "Delish", also bottled by Wometco, cost employees a nickel back then.

This building has managed to defy the odds of escaping the wrecking ball, unlike a nearly nearby old structure of similar vintage housing the "Taystee Bread" bakery on the SE corner of 17th and Church (now site of the Dialysis Clinic).  The bakery had extended to about mid-block toward 16th Ave., before nearly that entire block had become re-formatted and re-purposed.

Edited October 8, 2016 by rookzie

[smeagolsfree]

The land that includes Jim Read I think also includes the block behind it and the block where the Subaru dealer is. I think it goes on down Broadway too. It could be almost four entire blocks that could be redeveloped and repurposed.

[volsfanwill]

I think that could be one where the entire facade is used with a setback tower built in the middle of it.