Historic Nashville

I found this great old photo of West End Avenue on the Historic Nashville Web site yesterday. I’m still trying to decide if I can tell exactly where this spot is, but it’s still an amazing look into the past for our side of town’s main drag. The Historic Nashville site has a lot of great historic photos and links to other local history Web pages. There are also a lot of links on this About.com page dedicated to Nashville.

Recreation Center Update

Jason Holleman passed along the following information about preliminary plans for a new recreation/community center in the neighborhood:

If built, the new recreation center is expected to have an indoor pool. The current outdoor pool in Richland Park was built many years ago. Metro Parks finds it difficult to operate (i.e. limited season, hiring/managing lifeguards at a location that isn’t connected to other Parks’ facilities with full-time employees). Therefore, regardless of where the new recreation center is built, it seems likely that the outdoor pool would close in conjunction with the opening of a facility with an indoor pool in the neighborhood. The leading location for the center may be just up the hill from the current McCabe Community Center, but nothing has been decided.

Public meetings are expected to be held before major decisions are made to gain public input on everything from architecture of the building to the services offered at the facility.

Jason mentioned that he learned this information from Curt Garrigan at Metro Parks. If you’re interested in learning more about the center, call Metro Parks at (615) 862-8400.

(Note: The above photo has nothing to do with any plans for a neighborhood recreation center. I just thought it looked cool.)

Traffic Report

Traffic appears to be consistently backing up (way up) on the I-440 exit ramp at Murphy Road on weekday mornings. Today around 7:40 a.m. it was backed up past the ramp as far as I could see in the distance. The city has recently adjusted the timing of the light, but I’m not sure if that was intended to help with the traffic flow or merely to make the light “on” (i.e., not flashing yellow) for most of the day. It doesn’t seem to be affecting traffic on Murphy all that much, but it may be something we want to keep an eye on.

Also, please note that President Bush is scheduled to be in town today and that West End will be shut down at times during the afternoon for security reasons. He will speak around 5:30 p.m. this afternoon, so you may want to consider an alternate route if you were planning to drive on West End during rush hour today.

West End Robbery

Two men wearing hoods robbed the Regions Bank branch at the corner of West End and Murphy Road today around 9:45 a.m.

The men are still at large at last report. Please report any suspicious activity you witness to the Metro Police at 862-8600.

Green Party Yard Sale

The Green Party of Middle Tennessee is holding a yard sale on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 4018 Nebraska Avenue.

Proceeds will support the Midstate party, its work and specific campaigns of Green candidates. For more information, email Beth at [greenpartymidtn at bellsouth.net].

Here’s more information about the Green Party from Wikipedia, and here’s the national Green Party site.

Big Mess on 46th

I’m not sure when this started (or when it will be complete), but 46th Avenue is blocked right before the intersection with Charlotte Pike tonight.

There’s a large backhoe in the middle of the street along with a few sections of concrete pipe. There were construction workers present on the site around 8:30 tonight, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to finish by morning. If 46th is still unpassable tomorrow, the best alternate route–from what I can tell–is to turn right onto Park Avenue and then left on 44th Avenue to reach Charlotte. Forty-fourth also connects Charlotte all the way to Murphy Road, so you can avoid 46th completely if you prefer.

Two Dogs Found

Spotted on the message board, old-school style, at Jack’s Market today:

Two dogs found: one adult male German shepherd/retriever mix (possibly a chow mix) with black, brown and white coloring; one female brindle cattle dog mix (possibly mixed with Australian shepherd).

The dogs were found together at the intersection of Idaho Avenue and 43rd Avenue. Both are sweet and very friendly.

They were found at 7 p.m. on Monday, August 21st. Please call (615) 424-9060 if you think these may be your dogs.

I-440 and Murphy Road

I noticed a police car parked on the concrete triangle at the I-440/Murphy Road red light this morning. There was definitely an officer inside, so you might want to keep this in mind if you have a habit of running that red light during your dash to work each day.

Shakespeare in the Park

Time is running out to catch Shakespeare in the Park in the Centennial Park bandshell. This year’s production is MacBeth, and it’s running Thursday through Sunday evenings through September 10. (It’s also running on Labor Day, Sept. 4.)

Pre-show entertainment begins at 7 p.m., and the curtain rises at 8 p.m. Did I mention that it’s FREE? Come early and bring your blankets and lawn chairs, or you may be able to snag a seat in the gallery.

Sylvan Park School Info

I’ve updated a missing email address for some of the recent Sylvan Park entries below. If you are needing to reach someone with the PTA regarding Citipass books, Smart cards or the 100-year anniversary, Judy Beasley is your contact. Her address is [judy.beasley at freemanwebb.com].

Thanks to Pat Williams for pointing out the missing address!