Hotel Developments and Updates

Embassy Suites Hotel Nashville Airport
10 Century Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 871-0033
The 296-suite Embassy Suites Nashville Airport is nearing completion of a $702 million dollar renovation of its entire hotel.  The hotel features over 14,000 square feet of meeting space including 10 meeting rooms, as well as a business center, concierge services, a small gift shop, indoor pool and health club.  The hotel is located 2.5 miles from the Nashville International Airport and 7 miles from downtown.

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 889-1000
In July 2005, the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center opened Relâche, a 27,000-square-foot European-inspired spa featuring an indoor/outdoor pool, 12 private treatment rooms and a state-of-the-art fitness center. A full-service beauty salon is also part of the expansion and features haircuts, styling, manicures, pedicures, waxing and makeup applications.

In April 2005, the property also began a multi-year room renovation project. The $45 million upgrade will feature more contemporary designs. Rooms will include a luxurious pillow top mattress, upgraded linens, custom draperies, new wall coverings, new carpeting, lamps, tables and accent furniture. Also, all double/double rooms will be converted to queen/queens. 

Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown (new property)
310 Fourth Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
Open Date: Spring 2007
Ground was broken in November 2005 at 310 Fourth Avenue South for a 154-room Hampton Inn & Suites. The project's cost is $20 million. Suites will feature separate sleeping and living areas, as well as a kitchen featuring a wet bar, refrigerator and microwave oven. The hotel is expected to open at the beginning of 2007. 

Hotel Indigo (new property)
1717 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Open Date: Spring 2007
A West End office building is being converted to a hotel through a brand of InterContinental Hotels Group. Atlanta-based Wesley Hotel Group with Nashville-based Lineberry Properties is putting Hotel Indigo into 1717 West End Avenue. Plans call for 140 rooms with hopes to open in the fall of 2006. InterContinental started the Indigo brand a year ago, touting it as a boutique brand that's moderately priced. 

Hotel Palomar (new property)
Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group has signed on with Giarratana Development to build Hotel Palomar in the bottom of Signature Tower. The 200-key hotel will include a spa, fitness center, pool deck, meeting facilities and chef-driven restaurant. The hotel will be housed within Signature Tower which is scheduled to be completed by 2009.

InterContinental Hotel & Resorts (new property)
1600 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Open Date: Fall 2008
Nashville developer Alex S. Palmer & Co. has signed a deal to add a hotel under the InterContinental Hotel & Resorts banner to its West End Summit project which is expected to occupy the entire block of 1600 West End Avenue. The hotel will have 285 rooms, a health spa and club, multiple dining options and a lounge in addition to nearly 18,000 square feet of meeting space and a 10,750-square-foot ballroom. The estimated completion date is late 2008.

Millennium Maxwell House Hotel
2025 Metrocenter Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37228 
(800) 457-4460
In July 2006 the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel incorporated four painted electric guitars and 30 graphic guitar paintings by artist Paul Chase, more than 700 Hatch show prints, and memorabilia exhibits from Elvis Presley, B.B. King and Johnny Cash.

Union Station Hotel
1001 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 726-1001
Completion Scheduled for January 2007
The historic Union Station Hotel located in downtown Nashville has new owners and has just completed a multi-million dollar renovation. The grand lobby of the hotel has been renovated to bring the hotel back to its former glory. In addition to the lobby, the renovation also involved cleaning the outside of the building. All of the rooms in the hotel will be renovated as well, providing modern amenities such as plasma televisions.


Facility Developments and Updates

Nashville Palace
2611 McGavock Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 884-3004
Located just across from the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is the legendary Nashville Palace. Reopened in early 2006, the Palace offers nightly showcases with the rising stars of Nashville and features both a lunch and dinner menu. Hours of operation are from 10:30a.m.to 2:30a.m., seven days a week, with live music everyday.  Visit www.nashvillepalace.net for a schedule.

The Nashville Farmers' Market
900 Eighth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37208
615-880-2001
The Nashville Farmers' Market is moving ahead with the first phase of the renovation of the interior Market House. The downtown facility began improvements in December of 2006 with a projected completion date in late spring of 2007. Customers can expect an updated interior space complete with better lighting, a new floor plan, informational signage, new product offerings and a larger, central seating area. Future projects include upgraded restrooms, landscaping, a community garden and demonstration kitchen. The interior Market House will remain open throughout construction.

The Mall at Green Hills
2126 Abbott Martin Road
Nashville, TN 37215
(615) 298-5478
In late 2005, the upscale mall in Nashville's Green Hills area completed an expansion wing that added over 80,000 square feet of retail space. New stores and restaurants include the Cheesecake Factory, David-Kidd Booksellers, Z Gallerie, Panera Bread, BCBG MAXAZRIA, Cole Haan, Coldwater Creek, Sigrid Olsen, L'Occitane, Marmi Shoes, Kiehl's, Lucky Brand Dungarees, Therapy Systems, Elisabeth, and newly expanded Brighton Collectibles, Mimi Maternity, Starbucks Coffee, Godiva Chocolatier and Sephora. World-class retailers Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton opened stores in August of 2006, which will is the first in Tennessee for both companies.

Schermerhorn Symphony Center
One Symphony Place
Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 783-1212
The $123.5 million, world-class hall opened in September 2006, with high praise. This performance venue is among the best acoustically in the world. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center is essentially a "building within a building." The Laura Turner Concert Hall performance space is surrounded by a two-inch isolation joint that prevents sound from passing through and includes windows that are designed to allow light but block sound. The Center will also feature a $2.5 million pipe organ.

Airport Updates

One Terminal Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 275-1675
The Nashville International Airport (BNA) has broken ground to embark on construction of a $35 million terminal renovation project, to be carried out over a five year period. Included in the project will be reconfigured and reconstructed airport bistros and concessions; a consolidated security checkpoint flanked by shimmering water walls, a stunning art wall featuring 11 lanes and a million dollar view of the runway; renovation of all existing restrooms and construction of larger restrooms on the ground transportation level; skylights to add volume and light, providing numerous opportunities to showcase music, art and amenities; and color accents, mosaic sculptures and colorfully articulated chrome and lacquered woods interspersed strategically throughout the facility.

American Airlines
Nashville International Airport (BNA)
Travelers visiting Music City can soon experience a quiet haven to relax or a place to work before and after flights with a visit to American Airlines latest Admirals Club lounge re-opening.  Scheduled to open in Spring 2007, the facility will boast more than 6,000 square feet of space. Members will experience an area for noise-free relaxation, a business center equipped with state-of-the-art Lenovo technology, a TV lounge, and a bar to service both business and leisure travelers.

Attractions Developments and Updates

Belmont Mansion
1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212
(615) 460-5453
A Nashville treasure is celebrating a fresh, new look. Belmont Mansion recently completed a seven month exterior restoration that returned the ornate historic home to the grandeur it enjoyed as Adelicia Acklen's nineteenth century summer home. In fact, this was the first time since 1859 that stucco work has been done, using a unique scoring that is rarely preserved or restored in Nashville.

FirstArtSaturday
Various Locations, Evening Hours
Art Galleries throughout downtown will host receptions and art openings, beginning January, 2007, on the first Saturday of every month.  A free shuttle provides transportation among the participating galleries from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Music City Walk of Fame
P.O. Box 190633
Nashville, TN 37219-0633
E-mail: walkoffame@visitmusiccity.com
The Music City Walk of Fame on Nashville's Music Mile will be a landmark tribute to those from all genres of music who have made significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and have contributed to the world through song or other industry collaboration. Inductees will be announced throughout the year and honored at a special ceremony with a permanent platinum-and-granite, star-and-guitar sidewalk marker. The first induction was held in November, which coincided with the 40th Anniversary of the CMA Awards. The next ceremony is scheduled for April 22, 2007.

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (new attraction)
301 Sixth Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 244-3263
The first museum and hall of fame to honor the musician opened in April of 2006. The 30,000-square-foot facility recognizes musicians of all genres and features artifacts played on legendary sessions. The space also contains a gift shop, a mini-theatre for film screenings and a 5,000-square-foot performance hall. There is also a functioning recording studio that is part of the museum tour and a school of music, offering lessons to students of all ages and abilities.

Nashville Childern's Theatre
724 2nd Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37210
(615) 254-9103
Nashville Children's Theatre has broken ground on a $5.7 million renovation and expansion project that will more than double its existing space.  The improvements will add 16,220 square feet of space to the NCT facility's 13,000 existing square feet and will result in a larger lobby and box office, a soundproofed cry room for infants and small children, additional restrooms, and outdoor courtyard and improved seating.  At 75 years old, NCT is the oldest children's theatre in the country and has been ranked one of the top five in the United States by TIME Magazine.

Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (new exhibits)
3777 Nolensville Road
Nashville, TN 37211
(615) 833-1534
The Nashville Zoo welcomes many new residents in 2006. Lorikeet Landing is filled with more than 50 of the brightly colored Australian parrots moving freely inside a meshed enclosure; the exhibit will literally bring these birds to your fingertips when you offer them a cup of nectar. 

A new giraffe exhibit opened in April 2006 adjacent to the three-acre African Elephant Savannah. The habitat houses three giraffes - a male from the Los Angeles Zoo and two females from the Houston Zoo and the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, Texas. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to feed these magnificent creatures. 

Also debuting are a Louisiana bayou-inspired alligator habitat and a jungle home for ocelots, endangered Central and South American cats who live high in the trees. 

New Nashville Sounds Baseball Stadium
The Sounds, AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, are expected to have a new $43 million, 11,000-seat venue on five acres of prime real estate in the downtown area by April 2008. The team currently plays home games at Herschel Greer Stadium, which was built during the 1977 season. The new stadium and accompanying residential and retail development from Baltimore-based Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse will be constructed on 16 acres of city-owned property, which includes the site of the former Nashville Thermal Transfer Corp. plant and five acres to the south of the Gateway Boulevard.

The Rutledge (New Music Venue)
410 Fourth Ave S
Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 782-6858
Named for Rutledge Hill where it stands, this downtown music venue's nightly calendar crosses genres from indie rock to country. Up to 250 patrons pack against this cavernous space's stacked stone and exposed brick walls, shouting orders across the long copper-topped bar. When bands take the stage in front of a black-curtained wall, fans crowd the split-level room's standing area or sit at the black tables and chairs that are arranged for clear sight-lines.

Segway of Nashville Tours and Transportation
119 3rd Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37201
(615)244-0555
Segway of Nashville offers customized tours, as well as team building, commercial rentals, special events, and Segway service. See Nashville up close and personal on this unique personal transportation device. Riders must be over 14 years old, between 100 and 260 pounds and be able to step on and off  unassisted. The cost is $65 per person for a 2-2 ½ hour tour.

Tennessee Performing Arts Center - (new series)
The Tennessee Performing Arts center is launching a series of music, theatre and dance specifically for family audiences in its 2006-2007 season. The "Family Field Trips" are designed to give children and adults a fun, family-friendly experience with live performances. The live entertainment features artists with international reputations and a multi-cultural blend of art with broad appeal to people of different ages and backgrounds.

XM
Music City Connection: Heroes Behind the Hits" is a monthly radio show recorded and produced by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau right here in Music City, and broadcast exclusively by XM Satellite Radio. Taped live before audiences at various Nashville venues, the series presents songwriters of all genres during an informal "in-the-round" showcase - performing their hits, revealing their influences, and sharing their personal stories of writing, recording and living in Music City. Past performers include: Phil Vasser, Craig Weisman, Sara Evans, Sam Bush, and many more.Tune into the songwriting capital of the world to meet the true heroes behind your favorite hits!