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Originally Posted by futuresooner
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One thing that might be a good indicator that the WES project isn't dead is that Intercontinental Hotels didn't seem interested in being the MCC base hotel. Now, the reasons could be plenty, but I've not ever seen an Intercontinental connected to or considered the base hotel for a convention center. I think the Midtown location suits them better as it puts them closer to the music industry core of Nashville, and you have a high volume of medical facilities in the area. Also, this may not mean much to people in Nashville right now, but Church Street between the interstate and 18th Ave North is rapidly becoming the "gay strip" in Nashville. You may be asking why does that make a difference... well, the hospitality companies know through studies that per capita, gay people spend more and they also tend to lean towards mid to upscale hotels in their travels. If the WES is built and it includes the Intercontinental Hotel it will be one block away from some of those primary businesses on Church Street catering to the gay community. Beyond that aspect, the location on West End puts it in a very short and easy drive to the MCC. So, for those who don't like staying in convention center hotels and prefer much more luxury, the Intercontinental would be a great solution for them, since downtown doesn't really have a true luxury hotel. Given all the hell the historic commission put Westin through, I doubt they will move forward with their plans to build their proposed hotel on lower Broadway in the District. And, who could blame them? Had the historic commission not over stated their efforts to protect a building that realistically has no historical purpose, the Westin would be pretty much completed by now. I'm all for preserving true historic buildings. But, Nashville's Historic commission goes too far in trying to maintain buildings that have no value to anyone or anything but rats, have no architectural significance, and their primary goal seems to be to keep anything new from being over 5-10 stories tall. In Franklin, TN that makes sense. In downtown Nashville, it does not. Imagine what NYC, Chicago, Philly, and Boston would look like if the historic commisons there blocked everything that was proposed to be built next to a building with a 1800's facade. Nashville has to realize that those old buildings are not the draw. It's what's in those old buildings that's the draw. There's just no way a building that doesn't have any of it's original facade left, was the home to a tattoo parlor and an adult bookstore should ever be considered one of historic significance. Especially when an old church buidling that was iconic in Nashville's African American community was allowed to be painted lavender then converted to an adult entertainment center. Where was the historic commission when that happened? Thank goodness very few historic buildings exist in the SoBro area. That will allow developers to pretty much buuild whatever they want without any historic commission interference. Of course someboday might argue the old auto repair shops and steel shops are representative of Nashville's past and should be preserved... LOL
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