Nashville Mayor David Briley has made his first major announcement on the job — a proposal to demolish Greer Stadium and restore the land for reintegration into Fort Negley Park.
The Tennessean reported the story Tuesday, adding the new mayor needs to ask Metro Council for $1 million to demolish the old stadium and begin restoring the property as a park.
Briley’s predecessor, Megan Barry, had made a controversial push to redevelop Greer Stadium into a mixed-use project called Cloud Hill. Barry abandoned those plans in January amid strong resistance.
The funds “would come from the city’s 4% reserve fund through a request to the Metro Council in April,” according to a statement on the city’s website. “Following the demolition, the property will be seeded with grass while the Metro Historical Commission produces a Cultural Landscape Report that will help inform decisions by the Metro Parks Board about how best to turn this space into an active park that honors the history of the site.”
Learotha Williams, a professor of black history at Tennessee State University, hailed Briley’s move. On Twitter, he said, “this is, without doubt, a tremendous first step at honoring those Tennesseans who first tasted freedom here.”
Briley tweeted a statement that said, in part, “We owe that to their memory, and we owe it to history — our shared history as a city and community that need to be intentional and thoughtful about racial reconciliation.”
According to the Fort Negley Master Plan, the fort “appears to be the only stone fortification erected specifically for use during the Civil War.”
The Union army used the fort to defend occupied Nashville and for serving as a launching point for a final assault against Georgia and the Carolinas.
“The fort is a fragile dry stacked stone structure atop one of the highest hills in Nashville” and faces the possibility of structural failure.
An advisory committee in 2007 assembled by the Metro Parks Department updated the 1996 Fort Negley Master Plan to propose demolishing the former Nashville Sounds stadium once it was vacant, according to the city’s statement. Regular use of the stadium ended after the Sounds minor league baseball team moved to First Tennessee Park after the 2014 season.
Barry ended her private development plans “after an archaeological review found considerable undisturbed soils, which the historic record indicates could contain the remains of slaves and freed African-Americans who were impressed into building Fort Negley,” the city statement says.
I think we have some peepul posting here who are heartbroken.
Why? Because they thought Mayor Barry was going to cut them in on on a sweet sweet real estate development deal involving the Ft. Negley property. Oh so sad.
And boo-hooing about the “community”” not having a grocery store — that’s a Lefty, Prog Democrat issue, something fans of our recent mayor would say.
lb, you need to get your propaganda line in order.
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DId they prove Greer is a gravesite? I dont believe that has happened. This is idiotic. This community doesnt have a grocery, they dont have basic shopping opportunities but that is OK, the elitist progressives have decided that they need a park instead
Bob and Papa:
Why do you want to eliminate this Civil War landmark?
Are you two left wingers? Your motive being the idea that multi-culti New Nashville should erase memories of the Civil War?
I made the comment attempting to show exactly what you are. The fact it is a Civil War landmark would have made no difference – – – until the review revealed there might be slaves buries there, being Briley’s ‘only’ reason to preserve the landmark. I believe mine and Bob’s comments were taken wrong.
This idiot will be making reparations for slavery soon.
Why do I get the feeling if it weren’t for the archaeological review there would be no other reason to keep the land mark?