Design Center recommends Chestnut Hill renovations
Proposal pushes for a neighborhood commercial center
By Colleen Creamer For Davidson A.M.
The Nashville Civic Design Center has released recommendations for the Chestnut Hill neighborhood, one of Nashville's oldest communities and one with a rich African-American heritage.
Recommendations include establishing a neighborhood commercial center along Chestnut Street within five years and converting Greer Stadium into a mixed-use development that would include a Civil War Museum with amphitheater.
" It is one
of the last prominent historic neighborhoods that has not yet seen
significant revitalization," said Gary Gaston, associate design
director of the Nashville Civic Design Center. "It's really an
undiscovered neighborhood. It's what we call one of the inner rings."
The centerpiece of the plan is the transformation of Chestnut Street into a
pedestrian-friendly heart of the neighborhood by developing a retail corridor
and installing calming devices to slow traffic along Second and Fourth avenues.
The plan calls for affordable single-family housing instead of "beehive" complexes that have plagued other neighborhoods. Other changes include developing a community garden, building a greenway along Brown's Creek and establishing a credit union. The entire area to be refurbished is bordered by Interstate 40 and Lafayette Street on the north, by Trevecca Nazarene University on the east and on the south by CSX Railroad.
Some issues to be addressed are deteriorating housing, crime, poor drainage and a lack of sidewalks. However, the study cites proximity to downtown, good churches, a rich heritage, good transportation and a center for social services as assets that will help in reconstructing Chestnut Hill.
Paul Johnson, assistant director for Community Development for MDHA, said the department's part in the plan was only a fraction of the revitalization, but a crucial one.
" We have been working with The Citizen's Action Committee and the Trimble Action Group on identifying housing issues, on how, in particular, to bring in new development which meets the needs of that neighborhood," Johnson said.
Chestnut Hill has received a community block grant from MDHA. How all of the projects are to be funded is not known, although Gaston believes funds could come from public-private partnerships, city funds and new developers taking interest in the area.
" We try and be realistic when making suggestions," Gaston said. "So, they have been broken down into sections and spread out over varying timeframes."
Trimble Action Group asked the Design Center to conduct a study. In fall 2001, the center conducted neighborhood meetings.
Out of those meetings, the Design Center made these broad recommendations, initially focusing on Chestnut Street:
• Work with
Metro Planning Department to create a Detailed Neighborhood Design;
• Develop a streetscape master plan for Chestnut Street;
• Require future public housing to maintain a higher standard;
• Develop a dialogue with nonprofit organizations;
• Work with Metro Council to prevent heavy commercial encroachment and
implement crime prevention through Environmental Design Principles listed in
the recommendation. •
About Chestnut Hill:
Chestnut Hill once was known as the Cameron Trimble neighborhood.
After the Union occupation of Nashville in 1862, groups of slaves came to the area for federal protection and to be with existing families.
Meharry Medical College was once located within the neighborhood's framework but moved to north Nashville in 1931. That relocation changed the neighborhood. Years later the neighborhood was bisected by Interstate 40.
Chestnut Hill gets redevelopment Plan
By
Casey Westlake
The City Paper
December 27, 2005
The Nashville Civic Design Center has released recommendations to redevelop Chestnut Hill, a neighborhood close to downtown and Greer Stadium. The Trimble Action Group (TAG), Chestnut Hill’s neighborhood association, requested the plan. Beginning in the fall of 2001, the design center held a series of community meetings to discuss the desires and concerns of area residents.
The neighborhood, formerly known as Cameron Trimble, is a wedge-shaped area bordered on the north by Interstate 40 and Lafayette Street, on the east by Trevecca Nazarene University, and on the south by a CSX railroad line. An area rich with black history, it became isolated from downtown with the construction of the interstate in the 1960s. Residents voted to change the neighborhood’s name earlier this year.
The plan for the neighborhood includes recommendations to make the area more pedestrian-friendly by making Second and Fourth avenues open to two-way traffic. Chestnut Street would be narrowed to two lanes to create on-street parking and sidewalks. The plan also suggests retail and restaurant development on Chestnut Street between First and Fourth avenues. The design center also proposed replacing “super-block” public housing with single-family homes.
“ All this is going to help in our [effort] to revitalize here, and we’re all excited about it,” neighborhood resident David Pritchard said.
To fund improvements, Chestnut Hill has already received community block grant funding from the Metro Development and Housing Agency, said Gary Gaston, associate design director at the Nashville Civic Design Center. Other recommendations could be implemented through public-private partnerships, a neighborhood project funded by the city, or developers moving into the area.
Much of the community block grant funding has been used to help elderly residents repair their homes, Pritchard said. Pritchard also said he hopes tax relief for seniors citizens will keep them in the neighborhood.
“ These people have lived in this community for their whole lives, and we want them to stay here,” he said.
Several challenges
still face the neighborhood, however.
" They’re very disconnected from downtown by the interstate,” Gaston said. “There’s a perception that it’s much worse from the outside.”
“ One of the big things we’re fighting here, and hoping all of [these recommendations] will help with here, is crime,” Pritchard said.
Councilman Ronnie Greer, who represents the Chestnut Hill area, said he felt frustrated he was not involved in the planning.
“ They got no input from me,” Greer said. “None.”
Gaston said he believed Greer was invited to participate in the meetings and that the councilman would receive a copy of the plan.