Buildings You Want Torn Down

[doormanpoet]

The James Robertson Apartments in Nashville on 7th avenue is infested with rats and cockroaches. It is basically a homeless hotel. A guy in Franklin, Tennessee owns the place and it has an estimated value of 3.5 million. The problem is that it is a govt. funded facility where residents pay $20 a month rent! Yes! $20 a month! Not more than a block away, some of the Cumberland Apartments are $2000 a month.

Years ago, it was a luxury hotel. My father stayed there in 1956 when he was in the Air National Guard. They had a convention in Nashville and he stayed there. It is also where the Opry stars used to stay. Now it is filled with prostitutes, drug addicts, alcoholics, and pimps.

They recently installed sprinklers and repaired elevators. Once, the elevator repairmen came into our building to use the restroom because the ones there were so filthy. Sometimes they find dead bodies that have been there for weeks and almost decomposed! No-one checks on the elderly there who die and no one knows it.

The department of health won't do anything. The local news wont report on it. The City Paper wrote on it last year and the manager said they were not going anywhere. How long can this den of filth, death and rats continue?

I say tear the place down and move the deserving people to an assisted living place.

Once, there was a proposal for a 48 story building there, but the owner refused to sell. 7th and commerce is one of the best locations in downtown and no one will do anything about this filty place!

[showtime21]

I would like to see the L&C tower gone. I know its a nice building but its old and out of place.

[nashvol85]

I would like to see the L&C tower gone. I know its a nice building but its old and out of place.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are joking, right?

[doormanpoet]

He has to be joking! There is not enough space on this forum to write about the significance of the L&C Tower.

[DallasTexan]

I certainly don't want it torn down either.

[sleepy]

If the Robertson is receiving some sort of federal rental vouchers, there are standards it has to maintain to continue receiving those. I say enforce the standards and keep the building.

[showtime21]

Ok, I was joking, I just wanted to see what people had to say..

[it's just dave]

Wow, dead and decomposing bodies. Almost like we've got our little CSI going on down there.

The James Robertson is a great building and as sleepy says, has to maintain certain standards. Rats, pimps, prostitutes, dead bodies...I think it's a bit exaggerated. Mostly what I see going in and out of the place are elderly people and those somewhat fiscally challenged.

This building is important. If someone wants to build a 48-story building, fine. They can do pick somewhere else to do it.

http://img14.imgspot.com/?u=05/72/12/JasRbtsonHotel.jpg

[nashvol85]

Wow, dead and decomposing bodies. Almost like we've got our little CSI going on down there.

The James Robertson is a great building and as sleepy says, has to maintain certain standards. Rats, pimps, prostitutes, dead bodies...I think it's a bit exaggerated. Mostly what I see going in and out of the place are elderly people and those somewhat fiscally challenged.

This building is important. If someone wants to build a 48-story building, fine. They can do pick somewhere else to do it.

http://img14.imgspot.com/?u=05/72/12/JasRbtsonHotel.jpg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with you...if someone wants to build a tall tower, they can find a spot without a historic building on it. I wouldn't mind seeing the building remodelled, maybe cleaned up a little bit...I'm sure that you could find a developer that would be willing to buy that building and turn it into another hot downtown appartment location.

I personally like the building's architecture...I'm sure many of you would agree with me that the city would be losing a historic highrise treasure if they tore that building down- even if it isn't as recognizable as the Stahlman building, the American Trust building, or the First National Bank Building (now Courtyard)...but they are all important and should all be preserved.

[sleepy]

The James Robertson is a great building and as sleepy says, has to maintain certain standards. Rats, pimps, prostitutes, dead bodies...I think it's a bit exaggerated. Mostly what I see going in and out of the place are elderly people and those somewhat fiscally challenged.

This building is important. If someone wants to build a 48-story building, fine. They can do pick somewhere else to do it.

http://img14.imgspot.com/?u=05/72/12/JasRbtsonHotel.jpg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it's important as well to try to keep a mix of people downtown. The elderly are great neighbors--that's you and me Dave --and they tend to walk a lot, patronize neighborhood businesses and so on, and for lack of a better term, keep it real in gentrifying downtowns. I've heard/read that Nashville's downtown Dollar Store is now gone. Memphis' is too. On a downtown liveability scale, among other things, I've always employed the "shoelace test". If there's nowhere downtown to buy a cheap pair of shoelaces, something's wrong.

[doormanpoet]

Believe me, I work next door. It is not elderly people! Last year we had a woman who lived there walk naked down commerce street. The police and sherrifs department are constantly there making arrests. The department of health aknowledged there are a lot of deaths in there from overdoses and the like.

I have talked with people who have moved out. The amount of problems there is a story that Phil Williams of channel 5 is working on. He has been informed of the situation.

No offence Dave, but you seem to not believe anyone on this forum but yourself!

[doormanpoet]

BTW a construction firm in Franklin owns the property and is is 25% vacant. Last year it was appraised at 3.5 million dollars. After the Hathcock building was torn down on 8th, the manager at the James Robertson said in the City Paper article that she was "nervous" and "feared the future" of the James Robertson Apartments.

It is not a question of if, but when it will be gone. The old Mcquiddy building next door is to be torn down eventually.

[satalac]

On a downtown liveability scale, among other things, I've always employed the "shoelace test".  If there's nowhere downtown to buy a cheap pair of shoelaces, something's wrong.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lol, that's great, but so true!

[GaTechGuy]

I have to agree with doorman. I graduated from Hume-Fogg High School which is right across the street from the James Robertson and so many times after school or during lunch I would walk by that place on my way to the library or some restaurant and there would be some very scary people outside that building. There was the occasional elderly person but even they didn't seem to be mentally there. There was this one lady we called the lipstick lady and she would sit outside the building on an MTA bench and talk to herself in an inaudible voice. We called her lipstick lady because she would always have a huge ring of lipstick around her mouth somewhat like a clown.

[DallasTexan]

Well, if you all don't want the building in Nashville, we'll take it in Birmingham

[GaTechGuy]

Well, I just agree there are problems there...I don't think tearing it down is the solution. I like it. Perhaps it just needs to change hands or something.

[nashvol85]

I graduated from Hume-Fogg High School

Which year? My brother graduated from there.

[GaTechGuy]

Which year? My brother graduated from there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just last year...

[nashvol85]

Just last year...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah, cool. He graduated in '99. Great school, btw!

[it's just dave]

Maybe I'm sheltered from what goes on inside the Jas. Robertson. I have seen the Lipstick Lady and remember how odd she looked.

Most of you probably don't remember the old Sam Davis Hotel which was a just across Commerce Street on the opposite corner of the James Robertson. Now that was had become a rat hole. The bus station used to be on the block with the Renaissance and Robtson, same side up Commerce was a bar called Junior's, a seedy adult bookstore, the Jungle hustler bar (it moves a lot) and Juanita's a true piece of Nashville gay underground history. Nearby was the Classic Cat in a freestanding building on Broad where the convention center is now.

You guys missed the neighborhood color. If one little old hotel upsets you, you wouldn't have made it through the 70s.

Sometimes the parking lots are

just seen as parking lots and places where something will go sometime. Each has a history. Too bad most have missed it.

[sleepy]

Maybe I'm sheltered from what goes on inside the Jas. Robertson. I have seen the Lipstick Lady and remember how odd she looked.

Most of you probably don't remember the old Sam Davis Hotel which was a just across Commerce Street on the opposite corner of the James Robertson. Now that was had become a rat hole. The bus station used to be on the block with the Renaissance and Robtson, same side up Commerce was a bar called Junior's, a seedy adult bookstore, the Jungle hustler bar (it moves a lot) and Juanita's a true piece of Nashville gay underground history. Nearby was the Classic Cat in a freestanding building on Broad where the convention center is now.

You guys missed the neighborhood color. If one little old hotel upsets you, you wouldn't have made it through the 70s.

Sometimes the parking lots are

just seen as parking lots and places where something will go sometime. Each has a history. Too bad most have missed it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife is from Owensboro, KY and was a "frequent flyer" with Greyhound in the early 70's going to Tulane Univ. in New Orleans via Nashville. Knowing her, she may well be familiar with some of those sites. I'll have to ask her.

She has told me stories about layovers in Memphis and going to joints on Beale Street in 1970--when that street was, let's say, real.

[doormanpoet]

I think the buildings Nashville has razed or torn down were buildings in disrepair and neglect like the Sam Davis, The 7th and Commerce bulding, The Andrew Jackson Hotel, The Hathcock Building, and some of the old department store buildings.

I wish they had renovated the Tennessee Theater.

The Maxwell House Hotel that burned was a tragedy.

The old Princess Theater should have never been torn down.

The programs Memories of Nashville and The Memories of Nashville Downtown have some footage of these old buildings. These documentaries were shown recently on WNPT. The DVD's are for sale.

The book The Plan For Nashville, reviewed in today's city paper, has great old photo's of Nashville. There was a great bank building where the parking garage is next to the Amsouth Center.

Bookwoman and Bookman in Hillsboro Village have lots of old pictorial books about Nashville. Some of them have the architectual sketches of some of Nashville's oldest high rises.

I miss the old Jacksonian too.

They should have never torn down the Mason's Lodge on West End, nor the Old Govenors mansion on West End where the catepillar Building now stands.

It appears the McQuiddy Buiding next to the James Robertson Apartments may be saved. It looks as if they are renovating inside and there is a building permit number on the door.

[Voodooboy]

I think the buildings Nashville has razed or torn down were buildings in disrepair and neglect like the Sam Davis, The 7th and Commerce bulding, The Andrew Jackson Hotel, The Hathcock Building, and some of the old department store buildings.

I wish they had renovated the Tennessee Theater.

The Maxwell House Hotel that burned was a tragedy.

The old Princess Theater should have never been torn down.

The programs Memories of Nashville and The Memories of Nashville Downtown have some footage of these old buildings. These documentaries were shown recently on WNPT. The DVD's are for sale.

The book The Plan For Nashville, reviewed in today's city paper, has great old photo's of Nashville. There was a great bank building where the parking garage is next to the Amsouth Center.

Bookwoman and Bookman in Hillsboro Village have lots of old pictorial books about Nashville. Some of them have the architectual sketches of some of Nashville's oldest high rises.

I miss the old Jacksonian too.

They should have never torn down the Mason's Lodge on West End, nor the Old Govenors mansion on West End where the catepillar Building now stands.

It appears the McQuiddy Buiding next to the James Robertson Apartments may be saved. It looks as if they are renovating inside and there is a building permit number on the door.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am still amazed that the Jacksonian came down and for what? ANOTHER Walgreens! I knew someone who lived there in it's final years and had the privilage to see the inside after years of wanting to. What an amazing building the Jacksonian was. And to think of someone wanting the L&C gone! That building WAS Nashville's skyline for decades. When new the L&C was the tallest building in the entire southeastern US. I remember the old observation deck. The loss of the TN Theatre was bad too. I bet it's still a parking lot. I remember the Sam Davis and the Trailways station too with the diner right across from the old Bell Hotel where there was always something seedy going on out front that my Mom didn't want me to see while we waited for the bus. I also remember the Doctors Bldg. on Church and the diner that used to be there. Maybe it's still there. But I think the thing I miss most is Harvey's with the cool lunch counter downstairs and the little old man who ran the carousel in the toy dept. Is the old Harvey's bldg. still there?

[it's just dave]

I am still amazed that the Jacksonian came down and for what?  ANOTHER Walgreens! I knew someone who lived there in it's final years and had the privilage to see the inside after years of wanting to. What an amazing building the Jacksonian was. And to think of someone wanting the L&C gone! That building WAS Nashville's skyline for decades. When new the L&C was the tallest building in the entire southeastern US. I remember the old observation deck. The loss of the TN Theatre was bad too. I bet it's still a parking lot. I remember the Sam Davis and the Trailways station too with the diner right across from the old Bell Hotel where there was always something seedy going on out front that my Mom didn't want me to see while we waited for the bus. I also remember the Doctors Bldg. on Church and the diner that used to be there. Maybe it's still there. But I think the thing I miss most is Harvey's with the cool lunch counter downstairs and the little old man who ran the carousel in the toy dept.  Is the old Harvey's bldg. still there?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jacksonian was indeed a loss. The Jacksonian name lives on in a building further down West End. The design is like the old one, if the bricks were the same color there would be little difference except that the funk factor is missing. It's very expensive condos instead of apartments for the non-rich. It's very nice, but even the replacement can't replace what was lost there. Luckily, for the block, the old "Holiday Inn" apartments behind it will be replaced with a 10-story condo sometime int he future. I miss the Jack, too.

I do remember the Sam Davis. There was something infinately fascinating by the seediness, but it's time had come. The parking garage for the new downtown library is there.

The Doctor's Building is in good shape. It houses offices and a couple of trendy cafes and salons. Next door the Bennie Dillon is urban apartments and is very nice.

The Harvey's Building lives on.

The Tennessee Building was a tragedy, but no, it's not a parking lot. It's the site of The Cumberland, a 23-story apartment tower. It's not an architectural marvel at all, but it is nice and has helped initiate an urban renaissance and the rebirth of Church Street.

It seems it's time for you to come on down and visit, Voodoo.

[doormanpoet]

Yes, please come downtown! I went to the 24th floor of the Cumberland last week to look at a unit they are converting to condo's. Nashville has changed so much over the years, for the better. I am upset that Alex S. Palmer torn down the Masonic Lodge, it was a beautiful piece of architecture.

Just for fun, does anyone remember the Anchor Motel on West End?