The nonprofit organizations behind the renovation of Shelby Park's ship-shaped building are moving forward with their plan to make it an arts-focused campus. But first, they’ll have to clean out the space, which has accumulated a substantial amount of trash and vandalism over the past 15 years.
Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, which are teaming up on the project, have received their first $1 million gift from the Nashville-based Dettwiller Foundation. They have about $14 million more to raise. It will take an estimated $18 million to convert the former U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center at 1515 Davidson Ave. to Shelby Commons.
With the recent gift, a February lease approval by Metro Council and the $2.5 million from the Mayor John Cooper administration in the bank, a crew will begin gutting and securing the building, which was constructed in 1948 and sat vacant since 2009. In 2011, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance and military significance as a former U.S. Navy training center.
“In a city like Nashville that’s growing like wildfire, we really need to preserve some of the history. And this is a great opportunity to do that,” said Rebecca Ratz, executive director of Friends of Shelby Park and Bottoms.
Ratz told the Post she would like to raise at least 60 percent of the funds by the end of the year and see the renovation completed in 2026. The building would offer a restaurant, event space, bike and kayak rental, office spaces for Friends of Shelby Park and Arts & Business Council, and affordable artist studios for short-term and long-term rental. Centric Architecture will serve as architect, with Solomon Builders to be the general contractor for the project.
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