The massive hallway featuring the custom “sound wave” carpet
Perhaps you’ve noticed there has been some construction going on in downtown Nashville… That will all come to fruition next week as the extravagant Music City Center opens its doors. Upon touring this massive, yet beautifully artistic Nashville centerpiece, one can’t help but frequently gaze around in awe.
Mayor Karl Dean gave a sneak peek of the new convention center to the media on Wednesday, noticeably proud of the biggest municipal project in Tennessee history. From the 6,000-person Grand Ballroom modeled after the inside of a guitar to the $2 million art budget, the Music City Center is sure to impress and deliver grand results for the city.
A point emphasized on Mayor Dean’s tour was that this building has not been built with an “if you build it, they will come” frame of mind. To the contrary, this was a necessary step, because they’re already coming.
“Nashville – before this center opens – has been setting hotel records for occupancy,” cited the Mayor. “People want to come to this city. We’re not asking this building to suddenly make Nashville a popular place to come to; it already is!”
But was it worth the $585 million price tag? The Mayor seems to think so:
“We’re fine,” he assured everyone. “We’re ahead of schedule [with bookings] already… this is going to be a big success.”
The Grand Ballroom 360
A couple fun facts about the building:
- The exhibit hall can fit four 747 jets inside… and still have leftover space.
- There are 52 total pieces of art throughout, 48 of which are from Tennessee artists. Thirty-two of those artists are from Davidson Country.
- The lower level is home to the new Songwriters Hall of Fame. Although it doesn’t take up a lot of real estate, the Hall features touch screen catalogues of all the writers which you can use to listen to their songs.
- The green roof, designed after the rolling hills of Tennessee, is four acres with 14 different varieties of grass. Rainwater collects from the roof into a 360,000-gallon tank below ground, which will subsequently help flush the toilets and irrigate the outdoor landscaping.
- The roof also contains a solar panel system made up of 845 panels, and can sustain winds equivalent to an F2 tornado.
- The Grand Ballroom’s massive far-side wall opens up to reveal the stage.
- The kitchen can feed up to 20,000 people per day if necessary, and buys a good portion of its food locally.
- Kitchen equipment includes 11,000 dinner plates, 35,000 pieces of china and more than 40,000 glasses.
Those are some notables… here are some more staggering facts (via nashvillemusiccitycenter.com)
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Mayor Karl Dean stands before the four acre green roof.
The total land area of the site is 16 acres and features a 65-foot difference in elevation from the northwest corner of the site to the southeast corner.
- The total square footage of the facility, including parking, is 2.1 million square feet. The actual building is 1.2 million square feet.
- The Music City Center is working to achieve LEED Silver – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
- The building is using 110,000 cubic yards of concrete – almost twice as much as the 56,000 cubic yards of concrete used to build LP Field.
- The building will contain 11,000 tons of steel and 12,000 tons of rebar.
- At its tallest point, the corner of 5th Avenue and Demonbreun Street, the building will be approximately 15 stories tall and will overlook the Country Music Hall of Fame.
- The building will have 13,500 light fixtures with 21,000 linear feet of track lighting, 1,100 doors, and more than a mile of operable partitions.
- Visitors can access different levels through 22 elevators and escalators.
- The Grand Ballroom will be approximately 57,500 square feet – the largest in the city – and the Junior Ballroom will be approximately 18,000 square feet.
- 60 meeting Rooms will occupy 90,000 square feet total.
- The project will include a three-level parking structure for about 1,800 cars.
- Semi-trucks will access the 32 loading docks from a spiral ramp off the extended Korean Veterans Boulevard.
- Sixth Avenue will be routed underneath the Music City Center.
- There will be 5,000 square feet of retail space available.
- The multifunction Exhibit Hall will be 350,000 square feet, or approximately eight acres.
- The exhibit hall will include utility boxes every 30 feet, providing water, compressed air, and telecommunication equipment for state of the art services to exhibitors.
- More than 30 hang points descending from the ceiling of the exhibit hall will each allow a one-ton exhibit to be hung, all at the same time.
Impressed yet? You can see it for yourself this Sunday, May 19 and Monday, May 20. Activities on Sunday will include a walk with the Mayor around the Music City Center, free open house and live music. Monday activities will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and Grand Opening Concert. Additionally, Mayor Dean will present his State of Metro address Monday at 10 a.m. at the Music City Center.
Performances will include Phil Vassar, The Time Jumpers with Vince Gill, Mikky Ekko, Fisk Jubilee Singers and Sheryl Crow. See you there!
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