First Horizon Park - Home of the Nashville Sounds

[markhollin]

Video rendering of Santa's Workshop that will be part of the GLOW Christmas Show at the ballpark:
 

 

[Baronakim]

Well, I think it might be interesting to all of our newer Nashvillians on the forum to hear a little about the history of the Sulphur Dell site of First Horizon Park .  I reviewed this thread back to 2011 and there was next to nothing about the original Sulphur Dell and how Nashville baseball grew up here.   Since there seemed to be enough interest in my 7 decades of downtown Nashville post last week and I posted a history of Centennial Park and the Parthenon yesterday (Centennial Park Master Plan thread), I decided to choose Sulphur Dell because it goes back all the way to the founding.  I warn that I am not making a history of baseball, but rather the history of the site of the Sounds ballpark as the Sounds at Greer and at their new home has been adequately covered.  The site is rich in native American history as the stream, now underground, was the French Salt Lick where Indian settlements  were located and  had long attracted native hunters long before French and English traders.  The Cherokees and Chickasaws were living here when Timothy Demonbreum occupied a cave on the river bluffs where he traded  manufactured goods for pelts. James Robertson, leader of the Nashville settlement  pioneers  found the cabin of Demonbreun when they arrived to claim land in 1779.  The area remained woods and farm land  as Nashville was established  on the high hill just to the north.  Just before the Civil war the Tennessee State Capitol rose above the area that was known as Sulphur Springs Bottom  named because the natural sulfur spring was in the low lying lands.  By the Civil war area the land was being cleared and new streets laid out.   Union troops introduced baseball to the city in 1862, when they played in the low-lying  area of the occupied city.      As early as 1870, it was known as Athletic Park, bordered by what we know as Fourth Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Jackson Street.   Nashville has hosted Minor League Baseball teams since the late 19th century. The city's professional baseball history dates back to 1884 with the formation of the Nashville Americans (1885–86) of the original Southern League who played their home games at Athletic Park.   

The city expanded northwards and the spring and creeks were channeled in brick tunnels to the river.  A great deal of fill raised the area several feet. 

The first photo of the field is from 1908.  The early baseball field builtin the late 1800s for  decades was oriented to the southeast for the first of several  professional teams.    This put the sun in the batter's eyes and led to the reorientation of the field to face northeast in 1927 when a steel and concrete facility was built.  It was about then that a sportswriter referred to the park as "Sulphur Dell".  The name stuck.  Sulphur Dell was flooded in 1937 before the TVA system was built to control the Cumberland River.  The park was home to the Nashville Vols through the 40s and 50s with full house crowds at home games.  There were  several peculiarities about the field including a very short 262 foot right field for pro baseball and the left field as it neared the fence was quite inclined.

i remember as a kid being taken to Sulphur Dell by my grandfather for a home game of the Nashville Vols.  The area of town was pretty seedy by the late 1950s, dominated by the huge natural gas tank and a lot of industrial warehouses.  I was more often a visitor to the park for the Ringling Brothers Circus every year or so being held there.  I never was much a baseball fan.  By the 1960s, the fan attendance had dropped significantly and the last pro game was held in 1965.  The park was used for several more non-sports events and was then used as a stock car race track until Sulphur Dell was demolished in 1969.

Nashville's baseball saga continued with with the Sounds in Greer Park, but you can follow that part on a separate thread.   With the construction of Tennessee First Horizon Park in 2015, Baseball returned to its original site in a great new facility.  It is virtually on the same site, as can be seen  in the aerial photo of when it was a stock car demolition derby site, and the new field returns to almost the same orientation as the Victorian era field.  It has been the catalyst for a fantastic rebuilding transformation of the surrounding area.  This year it will host a Christmas event called Glow postseason.  When all the work is finished on the Bicentennial Mall  next door, it will be a great area of Nashville to visit again and again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Baronakim
added photo of current area & spelling

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Facebook SKY5. 

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Facebook SKY5. 

[markhollin]

The Tennessean's coverage of opening of GLOW at the ballpark:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/11/23/glow-nashville-unique-holiday-event-debuts-first-tennessee-park/2567078001/
 

[markhollin]

More shots of GLOW attraction courtesy of NBJ:

 

[markhollin]

 

[markhollin]

2020 promo video for the Sounds:
 

 

[markhollin]

[markhollin]

The Sounds and Major League Baseball have been in discussions for the past month or so about a 32- to 44-game season that would consist of two teams of either 20 or 30 free agents each. Those players would serve as a pool of emergency call-ups for every big-league team.

Games would be played every Thursday through Sunday at First Horizon Park, home of the Sounds, and probably would begin July 23.

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2020/06/24/sounds-working-mlb-plan-have-baseball-nashville/3250190001/

[MidTenn1]

I've wanted Major League Baseball in Nashville all my life and now we're getting two teams (move over NYC, Chicago and L. A.) and I can't watch them.  Torture!!

[Sean blackdog]

Today this morning from Facebook Sky5. 

[nashvylle]

Say what you want, but creative architect's and engineers could definitely retrofit this stadium and add on so it could be made for Major League Baseball. 

[markhollin]

Creative marketing for luxury box suites at First Horizon Ballpark:


 

[markhollin]

Adam Nuse, the Sounds GM and COO, talks about weathering the pandemic, opening the Third & Home sports bar, and prospects for a 2021 baseball schedule at First Horizon Ballpark.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/01/25/sounds-2021-season-adam-nuse-mlb-milb-baseball.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

[nashvylle]

No one can convince me that First Horizon Ballpark cannot be renovated into a stadium suitable for Major League Baseball. 

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, nashvylle said:

No one can convince me that First Horizon Ballpark cannot be renovated into a stadium suitable for Major League Baseball. 

I agree.  It may be a tight squeeze on putting in upper decks…but I bet there’s a way.

[nashvylle]

1 minute ago, titanhog said:

I agree.  It may be a tight squeeze on putting in upper decks…but I bet there’s a way.

Some areas might have to be demolished (entrances/some suites) and rebuilt, but it certainly can work if Haslam was part of the ownership group and wanted it done. 

[markhollin]

As I have shown before, when you overlay even the smallest major league park footprint on this site (a 37,000 capacity stadium like PNC Park from Pittsburgh), it would not work.  If they were to demolish the just-finished Sounds Retail Building,  demolish half of The Carillon complex, and demolish Von Elrods as well as the building sitting to the north of it, and completely close down Jackson St., then there's a possibility of it fitting. 

[nashvylle]

20 minutes ago, markhollin said:

As I have shown before, when you overlay even the smallest major league park footprint on this site (a 37,000 capacity stadium like PNC Park from Pittsburgh), it would not work.  If they were to demolish the just-finished Sounds Retail Building,  demolish half of The Carillon complex, and demolish Von Elrods as well as the building sitting to the north of it, and completely close down Jackson St., then there's a possibility of it fitting. 

ok- another route is to work with the state and relocate this tech center and utilize existing FHP footprint plus the adjacent parcel:

[smeagolsfree]

Again, Metro will not close another main road through this district. This is the only direct two way street in tact between downtown & Germantown. Fourth was cut off by  the stadium. Third gets closed by the train. First is a dog leg coming off of Second which also gets closed by the train. Sixth  & Seventh are not thru street and that only leaves Rosa/Eighth and it is not direct.

[Bos2Nash]

On 1/26/2021 at 10:10 AM, titanhog said:

I agree.  It may be a tight squeeze on putting in upper decks…but I bet there’s a way.

If they are able to put seating on top of the Green Monster at Fenway, they can renovate this park. There is also the discussion as to the seating requirements of baseball stadiums. Do they really need to be at least 35,000 seats in today's baseball stadiums? I would argue no.  I would also argue that a group as well funded and as powerful figure heads as the MLB2Nashville group is they could a significant amount of money into the entire frontage along 5th Ave and really create a unique stadium where left and left-center field are enclosed with grandstands and right field all the way over to left-center is open to the developments that have been built in recent years. 5th Ave could then become a more usable street frontage as the stadium grandstands are built above. Rather then building the massive ramps that are land hogs (ie any football stadium in America) have several banks of high speed elevators to serve the higher levels of seating. 

I know some of the more tenured folks do and will disagree, but if MLB2Nashville wants a new park they will have to pay top dollar with ZERO incentives to get it built. First Horizon would just take creative thinking beyond what typical stadiums would hold. No excuse for not using and renovating the current stadium, no excuse.

[MLBrumby]

I think you're on to something. If the MLB team were to 'buy out' (IDK how that would look) the minor league franchise, they'd get a lot of support from the established baseball powers and AFAIK the outfield of the current Sounds park really hasn't even been looked at for expansion for seating. I realize those are not the top dollar seats, but I could see an additional 15/20K seats just as a double tier wrap around the outfield.  Admittedly, I'm swagging, but nothing I've seen even shows utilizing the outfield. I know. I know. It would eliminate the views of downtown, but let's face it, the view from that perspective (that close) is not the best. Basically it looks pretty much the way it has for the past 30 years. 

[markhollin]

The problem with this theory is that the ownership group would like to develop the area around the park as part of their investment.  There simply isn't enough room unless lots of existing things are demolished. 

Additionally, if the Red Sox were starting from scratch, I can guarantee you they would not pick such a tiny plot on which Fenway Park is set hemmed in on all sides. 

[nashvylle]

On 1/29/2021 at 6:23 PM, markhollin said:

The problem with this theory is that the ownership group would like to develop the area around the park as part of their investment.  There simply isn't enough room unless lots of existing things are demolished. 

There is still a lot of land the state owns and Lee would be open to working with them.