NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The well-known lower Broadway bar Acme Feed & Seed announced it will be closing its doors "until science says it's safe" amid the spike of COVID-19 cases in Nashville.
Acme owners made the announcement on the bar and restaurant's social media Tuesday morning.
IN MARCH OF 2020 (eight months ago) the city of Nashville asked us to close our doors as the Covid pandemic emerged as a public threat to our collective health as a city, a country and the world. The message from our federal leadership was and continues to be muddled, so we decided as a company we would listen to the science. Our decisions would be primarily based on the safety of our staff and customers, followed by the economics of operating in this climate. We chose to furlough over 200 employees, allowing them to keep their benefits, insurance and an assurance they had a job on the other side of the crisis. We needed strong leadership to set the example for a path forward, leadership never came.
Locally the efforts were successful to a degree that we felt encouraged to try and reopen and in doing so we could take advantage of the PPP relief dollars. What we have learned is without enforcement of the mandates, those of us who follow them are penalized. Lack of enforcement has given the rule breakers the economic advantage and fosters a free for all, and a general disrespect for our hospitality community. We see the lack of enforcement of their own mandates by the city as the determining factor in our decision to close Acme until science says it’s safe.
While our doors will be temporarily closed, our hearts are still open to the city of Nashville, its residents, and our local music community. We will strive to once again find a way to pivot and provide a platform to showcase the authentic music city. We will focus on live streams benefitting charities like the one we hosted back in June that raised $50,000 for the Music Health Alliance. We’ll focus on small, curated private events that we can have full control over from start to finish. We’ll focus on ways to bring our city together safely, at a time when we all need it most. Stay tuned and stay safe.
