Possible Development of Fort Negley Park:
The Old Greer Stadium
Besides the tourism/historic value of this American Civil War icon, why is the city wanting to decrease public green space downtown? There is too little of it now. This 31 acre parcel has been in the public park inventory since the 1920’s. Over half of it is proposed for commercial development by the Metro Council. That could be around 18 acres of public downtown Green Space. As downtown explodes in development, we need more, not less, open space.
Cannibalizing an existing park for a revenue stream, sets a dangerous precedent for Nashville City Parks.
Key Points
- Fort Negley is the largest Civil War stone fort (inland)
- Few Civil War sites remain in Nashville
- African American Contraband Camps were located here
- A former cemetery of over 11,000 Union soldiers – some of which could still be there
- Water run-off improvements
- Green space
- More traffic congestion
- Monarch butterfly habitat
- Rare fossil site
If you live in Davidson County, Tennessee please contact your council person here.
Download the Friends of Fort Negley Plan
1100 Fort Negley Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37203
615-862-8470
– Bob Henderson (former Metro Historical Commission member)
Historic Nashville – In Defense of Fort Negley – May 22, 2017
Additional reading: Developers Propose the Desecration of Fort Negley – Nashville Scene April 28, 2017 by Betty Phillips
@savingplaces #thisplacematters #fortnegley
Thoreau: “If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!”
The Civil War Trust has weighed in. I will publish their letter shortly.