Sounds pass on 3rd and final!

[Onyte9]

The council voted 28-9 for the ballpark. Now we can get a move on!

[smeagolsfree]

I am ready to see dozers moving. A great move for Nashville

[it's just dave]

Sure proved to me that some council members just don't listen. Now we know who they are. Some points just proved that.

I'm glad the process gave us one of the best deals in the country for these parks...

Downtown has just gotten its fuse lit. Bring me a shovel.

[ATLBrain]

Whew... I was checking here just about every 10 minutes the last hour... thank goodness I had the Duke-UNC game in front... Uh oh... carolina just took the lead. Redicks been shut down. Anyway, back to the topic... Damn this is exciting.

It sounds (no pun really) like a good deal for all parties involved.

Sure proved to me that some council members just don't listen. Now we know who they are. Some points just proved that.

So Dave, who were the naysayers besides Mayor Briley?

[nashvillwill]

nice!

[tomcampion]

Terrific news. Looks like there will be some moving and shaking in SoBro.

From the Sounds website, a rendering of the stadium:

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/images/rendering_lg.jpg

As well as an aerial view:

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/images/newpark_aerial.jpg

[it's just dave]

Dr. Carolyn-Baldwin Tucker, has trust issues which wouldn't let her vote yes. She wants to run for Vice-Mayor.

David Briley: Much trouble seeing the big picture. Most of what he said didn't seem to take reason into consideration. He saw things in black and white and didn't quite get the ripple effect this will have. I've never thought much of him, and his lack of understanding will have a negative effect on his mayoral run.

Summers: Same problem. Doesn't get it. Afraid his political future would be in jeopardy if he voted yes. He may just be right.

Jason Hart: Following in his anti-sports footsteps of his father. He said some lady needed a water main fixed first...failure to see the big picture. Sadly, he's my councilman...in real life. In spirit, hardly.

Suspected: Erice Crafton, but giving the benefit of the doubt. I think he might have voted yes, but brought up some doubts.

Some Lawyer who gave me the creeps watching him talk. Seems the type to have to go home and feed who he has locked in his basement. He voted no...he couldn't see that investing $250,000 additional dollars (even though ADA would require an immediate expenditure at Greer of over $4million to make stds) would be a good investment.

Ludye Wallace: Need I say more. He would defer until the end of time as long as he had more time to talk more, sensible or not.

We'll just have to wait until tomorrow for the facts. That's all I could remember.

I was pleased to see that the council voted how they felt. I feared the Black Caucus would be a problem, but am extremely relieved that those members, for or against, voted individually and for what they believed were in the best interests of the city. It was very reassuring to see my fears were totally unfounded. All the hard questions asked were legitimate and helped craft a very intelligent final outcome.

I'm glad I was able to witness the process. I might skip the re-runs this time.

[ATLBrain]

Great analysis... thanks.

[it's just dave]

An interesting point Glenn Yeager made is that the design phase starts tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see what Streuver and the Sounds have worked up since this thing was first proposed. I bet we'll see some pretty dramatic differences.

The emphasis on the river component and greenway itself will be a great thing.

[Rural King]

Great news! Thanks for breaking the news and the later analysis dave!

[william]

Friends,

This is huge. We will now have Struever working from Demonbreun and First all the way up Rolling Mill Hill. I am very opptomistic SBE&R will do a quality job. With the stadium deal now a go, this might also present better opportunities for the empty lot between the DES building and First to eventually be developed.

IJDave, you've waited patiently for this one, my friend. Loved the photos of Gateway Boulevard too.

WW

[fieldmarshaldj]

Ludye Wallace: Need I say more. He would defer until the end of time as long as he had more time to talk more, sensible or not.

Do your duty, vote OUT Ludye !

[Hankster]

This is great news! I'm pleased that the vote was so lopsided. This shows that the council is still very much pro development, and it sounds like the process does work. We won't recognize SoBro in about 3 years. This is sooo exciting!

[bzorch]

I hope you and everyone else are right. I do think it will be a catalyst. This is big shot in the arm for SoBro and Rolling Mill Hill.

One thing that both excited me and concerned me about your comment was that we will not recognized SoBro is three years. Obviously, if you have been following the Encore thread, I think Planning should consider developing guidelines for SoBro or it could get ugly.

Does anyone have any great examples of ball parks on waterfronts, especially minor league? My hope is that the ball park will provide a great waterfront. What about great ball parks in general? Do you have any favorites?

What qualities, uses, or elements should this ball park development area have to be successful?

[it's just dave]

Just for the record, here's who voted against the deal.

Carolyn-Baldwin Tucker (at-large member), David Briley (Shelby Park area), Michael Craddock (Madison), Jason Hart (Inglewood), Jim Gotto (Hermitage), Eric Crafton (west Davidson), John Summers (Sylvan Park), Tommy Bradley (Antioch)

Ronnie Greer (Woodland-In-Waverly) abstained.

In Ludye's defense, he caved, and voted Yes. But he remains quite the character.

[it's just dave]

bzorch, you'll be pleased to know that SoBro is one of the most discussed and "planned" development situations in Nashville. The plans have been published for a long time and are very interesting. What is is the works now, and will be presented soon, are specific planning guidelines. That was one of the sticking points that caused confusion among the zoning officials. The new rules had not been adopted, but discussed. Look for the adoption of specific guidelines coming forthwith. No one wants SoBro to get ugly, just the opposite.

[bzorch]

I knew there have been a lot of plans, but it did not seem like any were binding. I am glad to see the guidelines will be coming. I hope we get a chance to review them in a public processs. Thanks.

[smeagolsfree]

I don't think the general public will even remember the debate over the Sounds Stadium 2 or 3 years from now. Heck a lot of them don't even remember the significance of 9/11 and complain about long lines at the airport. All they will know is that people from out of town will comment on how much the DT area has changed for the better and wished their city would do what we have done here.

The next big issue at hand is getting the Convention Center on the docket and doing a good job at selling the council on this. With the stadium and Rolling Mills plus the CC and all the other things happening in SoBro, the whole area is about to be radically transformed. Nashville is going to be the envy of many cities after these projects get finished.

Now is the time to start keeping an eye on the Struever Bros. site. With all the construction planned between DT, Sobro, West End and Midtown, the sky is going to full of wonderful glorious cranes.

I still think there will be other unannounced projects coming out of the woodwork soon. Everyone needs to keep the eyes and ears open.

[smeagolsfree]

I just wanted to through this into the discussion. I spoke to William today and we noted that there was going to be an additional 100 to 150 million dollar development besides the Sounds proposal and Rolling Mill Hills. Michael Hayes is allowing Struever Bros to develop his property as well. The entire area in SoBro is going to change even more than we had envisioned.

Here is an article from the CP this morning.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?se...s&news_id=47711

[linclink]

Bzorch mentioned that he wanted to see some examples of other waterfront stadiums, and so I did a little search.

Here goes:

Campbell Stadium

WOW!! Thats what I call a Bridge!!! A great view of water, bridge AND skyline.

These gives you a view of the stadium itself.

Again, some AWESOME bridge shots:

And the exterior shot

BellSouth Park in Chattanooga, TN

You can see a little bit of the water there.

Jacksonville Stadium

Great exterior look!

Shot of the bridge

These renderings are for the waterfront baseball park for Washington

From all of these... my personal favorite is the Campbell stadium. I love the way you see the full extent of the bridge, as well as the skyline... I also LOVE the look of the stadium itself. I guess that depending on how they position the ballpark on the land, they can have views of the bridge as well as the skyline in Nashville as well (though not from the same seat, you'd either see one or the other, unless I'm mistaken).

[urbanbna]

WOO WOO WOO!!! Yeah, I am so glad about this announcment!!! Nashville is finally coming along, coming along nicley if I do say so myself.

[linclink]

Here are a couple more cool Campbell stadium pics:

This next one is pretty awesome... it feels like the bridge is INSIDE the field!

I have a feeling the bridges, as well as the commuter train going by, and the water will look GREAT

within the context of the new Sounds Stadium! And can you imagine if, in the near future, some

great residential towers should go up on the other side of the river? That would create a

breathtaking setting for the Nashville ballpark!!!

What do you think?

[jice]

I know this isn't a waterfront stadium, heck isn't even minor league. But what can I say, I'm a Cards fan

The New Busch Stadium, currently being built, for the St. Louis Cardinals:

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/ml...lpark/index.jsp

All this ballpark stuff is pretty exciting... my hometown is going through a similar deal for a minor league stadium... of course, not TripleA heh.

I was wondering about somethin though... with the new Sounds stadium facing the river, will they hafta start fishin out homerun balls? heh... or is it not as close to the river as it seems from the renderings?

[satalac]

PLAY BALL!!!!!! sorry, i couldn't resist

[linclink]

Wow Jice,

I LOVE the entrance of the St. Louis ballpark!! It's GREAT... but then again, St. Louis is an AMAZING city.. their CC is GORGEOUS!! There is so much history and charm in their downtown! Being of a comporable size, and having the riverfront in common, I think they are a great city for Nashville to draw inspiration from.

Again, great stadium!