Nashville Bits and Pieces

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, bhibbs said:

Oh man oh man oh man oh man....I'm getting season passes to the freakin POLLERCOASTER

 

 

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[bigeasy]

How long till they close it down and replace it with a mall? 

 

Maybe I am still bitter.....

Edited November 18, 2015 by bigeasy

[MLBrumby]

Could just connect it to Ghost Ballet. New way to get across the river. 

[Paramount747]

If you build an observation deck, make it classy.  I wish I still had the rendering from 1975 which had a 750 foot observation deck for Nashville in that same place.

[titanhog]

As someone mentioned, it really only makes sense out near the Opryland Hotel.

[dmillsphoto]

[fieldmarshaldj]

1 hour ago, dmillsphoto said:

That looks to be around 1957-1968. Probably closer to 1962-65. It doesn't look like the interstate has been built yet. I wish we still had a lot of the buildings still there. :-(

[TNinVB]

Someone on Reddit said they contacted the company regarding the."polleecoaster" and was told an announcement was going to be made next year. 

[PillowTalk4]

37 minutes ago, titanhog said:

As someone mentioned, it really only makes sense out near the Opryland Hotel.

I can understand building a Polercoaster or even the Skyspire (one of their other products as an alternative to a Ferris Wheel) out near Opryland, but it really sits in a valley and would offer only distant views of the skyline.  I also wonder if it would be a draw at night out in the Opryland Hotel area during the tourism season, since most of Nashville's tourism is now in downtown.

I live in the Washington, DC area.  The National Harbor in Maryland is a new area that is still being developed that is located down the Potomac River from DC.  In 2014 they add a large Ferris Wheel called the Capital Wheel to the National Harbor.  The thought was it would offer spectacular views of DC.  Realistically it does not and people get a little annoyed with only seeing the Washington Monument and the top of the U.S. Capitol way off in the distance.  For $15.00 per ride/person, people I know that have been on it said they expected to see more than what they saw.  Even though you do see the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (nice at night), Alexandria, VA, planes taking off and landing at National Airport and the Potomac River.  I suspect sunset is probably the best time to take a ride.

I also don't think Riverfront park is the best location because of it's low point as well.  Although it would look nice as you drive east along Broadway.  And if it's height is substantial you'd see it from mid-town as well.  Although I would want the East Bank to be more developed near the stadium.

I'm not sure where would be the optimal location in Nashville given that most of the highpoints around the city are residential and because of that more than likely wouldn't fly.  I'm thinking tear down the so called "world's largest" adult bookstore and condemn surrounding properties in that block located at the southern tip of SoBro and build it there.  You'd get wonderful views of the city and beyond.  It would have a prominent location in relation to downtown (like the Space Needle in Seattle and the Arch in St. Louis) and you'd be getting rid of businesses that are eventually going to be forced out anyway.

Maybe the old Greer Stadium site would work as well.  Although you lose a bit of the connectivity to downtown.   Just throwing that one out there.

[Nashville Cliff]

43 minutes ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

That looks to be around 1957-1968. Probably closer to 1962-65. It doesn't look like the interstate has been built yet. I wish we still had a lot of the buildings still there. :-(

I miss the train shed.

[titanhog]

Well...it would seem to me, if they are already putting "Nashville" on posters, they would probably already have the land secured, right?  So...where has someone bought land recently that nothing has been announced to be constructed?

[PillowTalk4]

BTW, wouldn't it be nice if the Polercoaster or a Skyspire was in the shape of a guitar?   LOL

The Head Stock which what I believe is what the tuning section at the top of a guitar is called could be a multi-level observation space with a bar/club on one level, revolving restaurant on another, and the top level as a dedicated observation deck with a snack bar and access to an outside rooftop observation deck above it.  The string area could be for elevators.  The body called be a boutique hotel...  Somebody pass that idea along to the guy who wanted to build a guitar shaped building....

[dmillsphoto]

16 minutes ago, PillowTalk4 said:

BTW, wouldn't it be nice if the Polercoaster or a Skyspire was in the shape of a guitar?   LOL

The Head Stock which what I believe is what the tuning section at the top of a guitar is called could be a multi-level observation space with a bar/club on one level, revolving restaurant on another, and the top level as a dedicated observation deck with a snack bar and access to an outside rooftop observation deck above it.  The string area could be for elevators.  The body called be a boutique hotel...  Somebody pass that idea along to the guy who wanted to build a guitar shaped building....

And all of it getting rained upon by drunken-bachelorette party puke.

[jkc2j]

It's funny, I actually had a dream last night after seeing the news of the polercoaster that I saw plans that they would build it on the West End Summit site, along with a hotel, apartments/condos, and a museum similar to the High museum of Art in Atlanta. lol

Edited November 18, 2015 by jkc2j

[Neigeville2]

Downtown really needs some more family entertainment and this seems perfect so I hope it's somewhere near DT.  The East Bank may be low but I think you'd have some pretty cool views.   

[titanhog]

16 minutes ago, Neigeville2 said:

Downtown really needs some more family entertainment and this seems perfect so I hope it's somewhere near DT.  The East Bank may be low but I think you'd have some pretty cool views.   

Actually...something close to the Titan's stadium would actually be pretty cool.

[TNinVB]

Or maybe around where the TopGolf is supposed to go. 

[smeagolsfree]

According to what I have seen, they  would need about a 14 acre site.  I think that is what they are looking at in Orlando. The project has been voted down once but is up for another vote December 1st.

Cost of hat project is around 300 million.

[MLBrumby]

"Another vote" in Orlando, right?  How far from their downtown?   I picture something like this near that International Drive garbage, er... attractions.

[titanhog]

2 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

According to what I have seen, they  would need about a 14 acre site.  I think that is what they are looking at in Orlando. The project has been voted down once but is up for another vote December 1st.

Cost of hat project is around 300 million.

$300Mil?  Wow.  Tell me it's not just a tower and roller coaster.  Surely there's another component?

[MLBrumby]

Is Travis Kelty involved? 

[Hey_Hey]

You can take a virtual ride at the website: http://www.usthrillrides.com/products/polercoaster/

I don't see this being successful anywhere except downtown. If they put it out at Opryland, then it will either fail or be much less successful than it could be IMO.  I don't see enough people making a trip just for the ride to make it successful.  It really needs to attract people that are in that immediate area for something unrelated and they also ride the PolerCoaster. Also, if it costs $300 million then it has to include extensive retail offerings, restaurants, and other revenue generating businesses which would be most successful downtown.  In my opinion, it needs to be in an area with a lot of other stuff going on within a 4-5 block radius in order to get people riding this in a whim instead of making a special trip to ride it.

Therefore, could the Polercoaster be part of the Lifeway Campus plans? The Lifeway developers have consistently stated that they want it to be mixed use, including entertainment, and Mayor Berry has mentioned that she wants downtown to include something that will keep families for an extra night.  This could be that thing. The tower would serve as  a ride and observation tower and could anchor the Lifeway development. Much of the space that it requires appears to actually be a long near-ground level track loop to slow the cars down prior to re-entering the building.  That trackage could easily be looped on top of a 2-3 story retail development similar to what we have seen proposed for the 5th + Broadway development from Emery, so it isn't like that the land can only be used for the Polercoaster.  The tower itself looks to be of a similar or slightly smaller footprint than a round skyscraper, so it could be one part of a larger development there. That location would also provide good views of Nashville....the CBD, Sobro, the Gulch, Midtown, the Capitol area.....and could be a great location for the observation deck portion of the tower. 

[BnaBreaker]

I completely agree that this would be most successful if built in or near downtown, but for whatever reason, neighborhoods like that don't appear to be this company's target.  For example, the one in Orlando is being built out near Disney, and the one supposedly being built in metro Atlanta is all the way out in some new development northwest of Marietta of all places. 

[titanhog]

Just take that virtual ride on their website and you'll quickly see how crazy-scary (or thrilling) that thing will be.  I mean, you're hanging upside down at 500', twisting and turning.

I'm wondering what other kinds of entertainment they will have inside of that building.  It's so large, surely there's restaurants, shops, movie theater, games, etc.

 

[bigeasy]

It is a cool idea but I would rather just have an observation tower. Wouldn't it be pretty loud? It just seems like it would get really old being downtown hearing the constant roar of the coaster and people screaming. Not an issue at a theme park. But I don't know if I would want to hear it while walking around town.