The Metro Nashville City Council adopted a resolution to inventory all of Nashville’s music venues in order to preserve and support them. The council took less than a week to adopt the resolution after its initial introduction – no council members voted against it. Nashville Mayor John Cooper approved the resolution on Thursday.
The sale of the historic music venue Exit/In largely prompted creation of the resolution. As The Tennessee Star reported, the current Exit/In owners are skeptical about the purchasers’ promises to preserve the venue.
“[T]he planned sale of Exit/In, Nashville’s oldest rock music club, has brought to light the potentially devastating effects the loss of our locally-owned, independent music venues would have on our economy and the fabric of our culture,” read the resolution. “[T]he potential loss of the Exit/In’s status as a locally-owned, independent venue is just the latest in a series of events that have pitted the preservation of historic music establishments against the economic realities associated with development in a thriving city.”
The resolution claimed that Nashville acts reactively whenever historic venues face closure or demolishment. An inventory of all local music venues would improve the city’s proactivity in preventing venue closures.
The resolution named several groups in charge of creating the inventory: the Metropolitan Planning Department, Metro Arts Commission: Nashville Office of Arts and Culture, Metropolitan Historic Commission, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and the Nashville Area of Chamber of Commerce.
The inventory will not only name all of the venues, but record details about their operations. Information such as the names of owners or current operators, bookers, and promoters; music genres performed; venue age, history, capacity, zoning designation; lease details for the facility, if any; and any recommended actions for Metro government to preserve and sustain that venue.
The council has taken other actions to support local music venues. In September of last year, the city allotted $2 million of federal CARES Act funds to assist the struggling venues.
The resolution took effect on Thursday.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
