Have you been to downtown Nashville recently? Every year millions of tourists head that way. To accommodate the ongoing boom, the corner at Fifth + Broadway is getting a major makeover.
There's still a lot of work to be done.
"Right now we're in the process of doing interior demolition," said Rob Johnson, Project Executive of Field Operations for Skanska.
Fifth + Broadway is getting a major makeover. Tune in to @NC5 this morning! #nashville pic.twitter.com/I9T4vLyqQK
— Kristen Skovira NC5 (@KSkoviraNC5) June 23, 2017
But when construction is complete, the corner of Fifth + Broadway will house one of the largest mixed-use developments in the city.
"So it'll be spectacular," said Pat Emery, President and CEO of Spectrum | Emery.
Emery said Nashville's tourism industry is on a record hot-streak. Some 13.9 million visitors came last year and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
"Well after watching the Predators and seeing how many people came down for CMA Fest, it's incredible how much the downtown is changing," he said.
To accommodate the growth, developers are building-up.
"We'll take the exhibit hall down, we'll excavate 25 to 26 feet below Broadway and then we start coming up with structures," said Johnson.
There will be 2,000 new parking spaces, more than 350 apartments and 235,000 square feet retail and entertainment. Maybe most-noteworthy will be the National Museum of African American Music, the first museum of its kind.
"When we talk about retail it's not just entertainment and dining, it's also clothes, merchandise. So that starts bringing retail back downtown," Emery said.
The project is on-track to finish late 2019.
Barricades and pedestrian walkways have been added while work continues alongside the attractions.
"There will be a lot of demolition before we start taking exterior walls down. That keeps the public safe and controls any airborne debris," Johnson said.
Broadway
- All travel lanes will remain open.
- The traffic lanes on Broadway will be re-striped, starting at the intersection of Fifth Avenue extending to Sixth Avenue.
- The parking lane adjacent to Bridgestone Arena will be re-striped to facilitate the eastbound travel lane.
- Construction crews will install a protected pedestrian walkway along the north side of Broadway.
Commerce Street
- A segment of the eastbound travel lane between Fifth and Sixth avenues will be closed.
- Two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane will remain open.
- The sidewalk on the south side between Sixth and Fifth avenues will be closed.
- Pedestrians will be directed to utilize the sidewalk on the north side.
Fifth Avenue
- The southbound lane adjacent to the Fifth + Broadway site will be closed.
- The sidewalk adjacent to the Fifth + Broadway site will be closed.
- Pedestrians will be directed to utilize the sidewalk on the east side.
- The two northbound lanes will remain open.
