Restoring 2nd Avenue
Most Recent Update
2023Focus Area
Celebrate Streets
Partner
Why are we restoring 2nd Avenue?
On December 25, 2020, a bomb inside an RV was detonated on 2nd Ave N between Commerce and Church St in Downtown Nashville destroying several buildings and damaging 65 structures within its radius. While we may never recover our historic buildings on the East side of the block, there has been significant request from the community to restore much of what we lost while also revitalizing the area to be better than ever before. The Civic Design Center partnered with Metro Nashville Planning Department, GHP—project manager for the recovery and rebuilding efforts—the Mayor’s Office, key metro departments, and the Nashville community to create a vision for the future of the 2nd Avenue area. The overarching project goal is to maintain the historic character of the buildings and streets while redesigning the streetscape to create a bustling pedestrian center. The study area focuses on 2nd Avenue but also includes 1st Avenue, the riverfront, and 3rd Avenue.
Project Location
Project Information
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On December 8th, 2021, the Mayor’s Office made an announcement regarding 2nd Avenue, releasing artist-drawn renderings for the direction of 2nd Avenue. These renders were visualized based on nearly a year of community engagement and stakeholder meetings that culminated into design recommendations by Kimley-Horn, Hawkins Partners and STG Design.
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AT&T’s facade revitalization showcases metal sheeting that is etched with a life-size artistic representation of historic buildings that may have existed in its place over 100 years ago. The facade design came from an art piece by local artist, Phil Ponder, and was enthusiastically recommended by local advocates, including members on the Historic Review Committee. The cladding was completed in early 2023.
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Construction began on the new streetscape designs for 2nd Avenue in early 2023. The North block, abutting Union St, will be completed first, then the South block between Broadway and Commerce will be completed next, and finally, the middle block with the most major explosion damaged will be completed last. Civic Design Center continues to work with MDHA to design the retail and restaurant kiosks that will be on the middle block. The Connect Downtown Plan will inform future circulation of transportation in the area.
Visionary sketch for 2nd Ave N looking north towards the Court House from Lower Broad. Rendering by Remi Lynch, Civic Design Center Landscape Planning Associate
Project ENgagement + Visioning
Resources
2nd Ave Community Planning Study (2021)
The 2nd Ave team is studying future land use, urban design, mobility, open space, and environmental resiliency. The Study will guide cohesive and coordinated development/redevelopment through possible updates to the land use policy, the street plan, and changes to Nashville’s long-range general plan, NashvilleNext. The study may also result in updates to the Downtown Code.
This page has the full list of notes from every community engagement session held in 2021 with regard to the project, most of which were held online like the image depicts to the left.
Project Contacts: Anita McCaig and Nora Yoo
ULI Advisory Services Panel Report (2021)
The Urban Land Institute is multi-disciplinary membership organization in the planning, development, and real estate fields. Their Advisory Services program was invited to send a panel of people to visit Nashville, interview stakeholders, and form a recommendation for the 2nd Avenue corridor. Those objective recommendations included design solutions, economic development strategy and more.
You can watch the full presentation, and then read our blog post outlining our perspective on their recommendations.
2nd Ave Strong Fund
Together, The DISTRICT, Inc and Metro Historical Commission Foundation have created a fund to help restore the vitally important historic district of 2nd avenue. The funds will be used to help support structural assessments of and facade repairs to the irreplaceable historic buildings impacted by the explosion.
“Nashville rebuilt itself as a commercial center; again and again 2nd avenue reflected the voice of the community.”
— Dr. Carole Bucy, Davidson County Historian
This project was made possible by:
