The corner of Demonbreun Street and 5th Avenue South is already a busy spot in downtown Nashville – that’s where you’ll find both Bridgestone Arena and The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum – and it’ll be even busier when Nashville’s new convention center, Music City Center, opens on the southwest corner on May 20th.
Like most modern convention center construction projects, Music City Center was built with the expectation that it will allow Nashville to grab a bigger piece of the country’s annual schedule of large conventions. At a total of 1.2 million square feet and with over 370,000 square feet of primary exhibit space, they say it’ll position the city for consideration to host up to 75% of major conventions. The $623 million facility also has a 57,000 square foot grand ballroom (that’s pretty darned grand), a 18,000 square foot “junior ballroom” and 1,800 parking spaces.
The building itself is quite distinctive when viewed from above. At one end of the roof is an area shaped like the body of a guitar where the rooftop mechanical equipment is hidden. Most of the rest of the wavy roof is covered in plants. Excess rain that falls on the four acre green roof ends up in a 360,000 gallon retention tank for later use watering the landscape – and for flushing the building’s toilets. Still not “green” enough for you? They also plan to add an acre of solar panels.
In addition to Bridgestone Arena (home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators) and The Country Music Hall of Fame, other nearby attractions include Ryman Auditorium (original home of the Grand Ole Opry) and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
TheRealPlaces.com has guides to nearby hotels for over 100 convention centers in the United States.
