Doug Harden’s Dream
Doug Harden in his home recording studio. photo by Chrissy Alspaugh
~by Chrissy Alspaugh
F
or nearly a decade after the Little Nashville Opry burned, many believed the days of a music venue drawing thousands of visitors to Brown County were through. But with the heart of a musician, skills of an architect, and relentless optimism in a dream for his hometown, Doug Harden never gave up. It’s still a bit surreal to the 61-yearold mandolin player that construction has begun for the new Maple Leaf Performing Arts Center, a 2,000seat indoor entertainment venue in Nashville that will feature a variety of national music acts representing all genres of music. The community broke
ground this summer for the project that is projected to open in July 2019. “For years, we were just doing what we thought was right, seeing how far we could push this idea,” he said. “It’s pretty incredible to finally get to dream about opening night.” During all those years of planning and hunting for project financing, Harden said he just couldn’t stand watching the missed opportunity and economic impact of tourists choosing to vacation elsewhere and local youth moving away. The devastating Opry fire on Sept. 19, 2009, which later was determined to be caused by arson, ended a
16 Our Brown County • Sept./Oct. 2018
nearly 35-year run of country, gospel and bluegrass concerts at the Brown County landmark. Legends such as George Jones and Johnny Cash, as well as current country stars such as Blake Shelton and Trisha Yearwood wowed packed houses in the unique concert hall. “The Opry was a huge economic driver and cemented Nashville as a tourist destination. We lost that. As a young kid, I learned if there’s a problem, you fix it,” said Harden, whose father worked as the Bartholomew County Highway Engineer from the 1950s to 1970s. “You think about how to make things better for everybody.”
