November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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The Madisonian November|December 2019
November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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The Madisonian
November|December 2019
“I want to live in a city that’s serious about protecting our planet.� We heard you.
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The Madisonian November|December 2019
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n o s i d a M g n i n i g (PRlaens),Ipmroagress, and preservation n Pike on GaEllLaAti CHANCE BY LESLI
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n o s i d a M N I g n i t o AIraSLhouovin’s tragic tale of life
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FOX BY RA N DY
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(Re)Imagin Plans, progress, and preservation on Gallatin Pike By Leslie LaChance
Bird’s Eye View of grand intersection of Station Boulevard and Gallatin Pike (looking north from Madison Square, on bottom left) towards Downtown Madison. Ben Johnson Illustrations/2018 Madison Strategic Plan 8
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Madison
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eff Wortylko, wouldn’t mind seeing a few upscale changes come to Madison, Tennessee, especially in the historic Downtown, where he works. “They keep saying they want to bring in new businesses,” the General Manager of Berry’s Jewelry and Loan Company on Gallatin Pike South observes. “But they’ve been talking about that for years — to do something like they did with The Gulch or 12 South. I’ll believe it when I see it.” “They” are All Together Madison, an organization of pro-development
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business and community leaders founded in 2015. Three years later, the group commissioned the Madison Strategies Report through a grant from the Madison-based Memorial Foundation, and produced a document intended to articulate a vision for Madison’s future. “We’re still waiting to see exactly what’s going to happen, but it would be great if we could get some new restaurants down here,” Wortylko says. His voice is one among many in the business community who support a Madison revitalization
Vision for Downtown Madison, focusing on the restored Madison Theater building, rehabilitated storefronts, infill mixed-use development, and café space. Singing Vegetables on the mural celebrate Madison’s musical heritage and healthy living. Ben Johnson Illustrations/2018 Madison Strategic Plan
effort, at least in theory. But some are wondering when and how such an effort is going to happen. Who will get to stay and play, and who will be dealt out if some of the recently proposed changes become reality? Like Wortylko, George Carpenter likes the idea of some business infrastructure improvements on Gallatin Pike. As Director of Adventist Community Services Center, which owns and operates out of the former Madison Theater building, he’d like to see redevelopment that
would benefit everyone in the community, including people on the economic fringes. “Everyone wants to see improvements,” he says. “You want the tide of prosperity to lift all boats, of course, but we have to think about how the people we serve would be affected by any proposed changes. Our primary mission is to serve them.” To motorists making their stop-and-go way along Gallatin Pike South, the corridor can feel like a congested blur of storefronts doing their scrappy best to thrive in a commercial zone that has seen better
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days. Pay-day lenders, hair supply stores, fast-food joints, carnicerías, and aging strip malls overlooking seas of empty asphalt dominate the landscape. But for folks who live and/or work in Madison, there’s more to it than meets the passerby’s eye. Like beloved mom and pop businesses operating in the same spots for decades, or historic churches and landmark homes, and bustling community centers like the Madison Branch of the Nashville Public Library, which also happens to be the location of one of the busiest bus stops in all of Davidson County.
wishes for Madison’s future are probably as numerous and diverse as the residents themselves (upwards of 40,000 people at last count), one thing is certain. Change is coming. Not in five years, not in ten, but right now. Over the last year, for instance, a new sign has gone up at 721 Madison Square, a historic shopping plaza situated along Gallatin Pike. The property’s new name is Madison Town Center, and along with that rebranding comes an impressive plan for extensive redevelopment of the thirty-four acre site. That plan has the support
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Redevelopment like this doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not like all these changes will happen overnight, but some of them are coming, and coming pretty soon. –NANCY VANREECE Dig a little deeper and Madison has much to recommend it, both as a place to do business and as a place to live. Paramount, perhaps, is the oft-mentioned relative affordability of real estate, at least in comparison to other parts of Nashville. It’s no wonder then, with Madison’s mix of aging business infrastructure and historic community roots, developers have been casting their longing eyes and site plans north of Briley Parkway. Though 12
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of many in the Madison business community, along with that of Metro District 8 Councilperson Nancy VanReece, who has played a key role in gathering community input to shape a vision for the parcel’s future. Built in 1956 and expanded in 1963, Madison Square was once home to highend retailers like Harvey’s and McClures, and the site of the state’s first Shoney’s Big Boy restaurant. As Madison Town
Center it received a new zoning designation in February 2018, changing from CU (Commercial Use only) to MUG-A (Mixed-Use General-Alternative), “intended for a moderately high-intensity mixture of residential, retail, and office uses. Alternative districts promote alternative modes of transportation,” Metro zoning guidelines say. With the new zoning in place and discussions with developers underway, Madison Town Center is set to begin transformation in the near future to a mixed-use residential/office/retail livewalk community, with a proposed 1035 residential units (mostly located behind the existing commercial buildings), and eventually, 562,000 square feet of office, retail, and adaptive use space. Owners Madison Square Partners, L.P., part of the Corcoran-Maddox real estate investment company, acquired the property in the early 1990s. In October of this year, The Nashville Post reported that the group listed the property for $30 million with the real estate brokerage Westgate Enterprises. That listing, says CorcoranMaddox’s Tom Corcoran Jr., is more about finding investment and development partners for the project. “We’re fully committed to seeing this project through as planned; our main priority is delivering what has been promised to the community,” he says. “We’re looking for more experienced partners to see the development through as envisioned. It’s pretty much in line with the 2018 Strategies proposal. We’re really just waiting on Metro to start building Station Boulevard, before we start building. That appears to be imminent.” The proposed “Station Boulevard” will run along the back of the property and connect proposed Town Center Phase I residential development with existing Fifty Forward Senior Center and Amqui
Station, along with the planned Music City Roots music venue. “Because of its proximity to Fifty Forward, we’re looking at the possibility of Phase I being some kind of affordable senior housing,” Corcoran says. Construction for Station Boulevard is underway, even if it doesn’t quite look like it yet. The right-of-way is mostly in place, though some utility lines and some sewer work will need to be completed before road construction actually begins. But what about existing tenants in the 100 percent occupied existing retail space? “We’re of course going to honor those leases, some of which are long-term,” Corcoran says. Job Billiards Club has operated on the southeast corner of Madison Town Center for over 40 years. Owner Ricky Gamble says he’s in favor of redevelopment that would bring him more customers, especially the prospect of increased residential density close by. “As long as I’m still here, having more people living nearby will mean more customers,” he says. “If they make it pretty, that will be good for business.” The Strategies Report (available on the Madison-Rivergate Chamber of Commerce website, madisonrivergatechamber.com) imagines more mixed-use zones, with work-force affordable residential communities walking distance from both Madison Town Center and the adjacent historic Downtown neighborhood. The plan calls for more publicly accessible green space, bike lanes, and an outdoor civic plaza for public events at the Town Center site. It envisions boutique shops, artisan centers, restaurants, and entertainment venues to draw local families and others from around the region to the area. At the northeast tip of the Town → November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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Center property, bordering Gallatin Pike and close to Downtown Madison, a new transit hub is proposed — for parking and bus service in the more immediate future, and someday, for the supposed light rail connector that would whisk Madisonians up and down the right-of-way to other parts of Nashville. VanReece is confident that developers will deliver a project to make Madison a better and more affordable place to live. She’s enthusiastic about the proposed Phase I affordable housing planned for Madison Town Center. “It will be a great opportunity for seniors, and we’ll have some artist’s spaces as well,” she says. “Redevelopment like this doesn’t happen all at once,” VanReece explains. “It’s not like all these changes will happen overnight, but some of them are coming, and coming pretty soon. The community has been and will be involved at every phase, from the rezoning process and on through each phase of development.” While plans for Madison Town Center seem ready to move forward as soon as the city begins infrastructure improvements, the Downtown redevelopment may be a tougher sell. “With Town Center, you just have the one property owner, but with Downtown, it would take more time to get people on board with any one plan,” VanReece says. She hopes that changes in that part of Madison will happen “organically, as things change at Town Center and Downtown business might want to do things with their properties in line with that vision,” she says. The Strategies Report also notes that a substantial portion of businesses in proposed redevelopment areas are immigrant owned, and it suggests that the community consider how to incorporate cultural diversity into plans for the future. But the
document is short on specifics. “It’s an area of Nashville that is really growing,” Nashville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Yuri Cunza observes. “We have to anticipate that properties will become more expensive and prepare for that.” Cunza points out that not all immigrant entrepreneurs are doing business in Madison with the intent of staying put forever, but for entrepreneurs who want to stay, he thinks the focus should be on acquiring properties well before development might result in a sudden and exponential increase in real estate costs. He also suggests that when a strategic plan calls for “cultural diversity,” communities would do well to evaluate and preserve what is already diverse. “You can be inclusive with something that is already there,” he says. Inclusivity and practical acknowledgements of reality versus lofty visionary goals is on George Carpenter’s mind too. In regards to the Adventist Community Services Center, the Strategies Report envisions “a showcase for the church’s healthy food initiatives” with a “contemporary full-service vegetarian restaurant and community food market … subsidizing a culinary art and restaurant/ hospitality job training program open to community residents.” “Well, it certainly fits with our mission of promoting healthy living, but we don’t really have experience here with that kind of business model,” Carpenter says, commenting on the plan. “We’re certainly supportive of creating more economic opportunity, but we choose not to think that it’s only about dining and music venues, though certainly that’s part of a vibrant community. The bottom line is that a healthy community is one that addresses all aspects of that community’s needs, whatever they may be.” November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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The original Lakewood Water Company’s pumphouse, late 1930s.
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The Madisonian November|December 2019
! n o is HIND E B Y R O T S G THE AMAZIN ER YOU DRINK THE WAT ll By Linus Ha
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L
inus Hall,
founder and brewmaster at Yazoo Brewing Company, knows firsthand the importance of water. Clean, quality water is not only the first and primary ingredient in his business but for the entire community. He also knows the story of where that water comes from and shared it with The Madisonian.
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y wife Lila and I moved to East Nashville 23 years ago and eventually settled in a home along the river in Inglewood. When we called to get water service, we were surprised to learn that we would be getting water from Madison Suburban Utility District (MSUD), instead of Metro, but the water tasted the same, so we didn’t think too much about it. When we bought our house, the map and deed had a roadway marked “Haysboro Drive� running behind my
Madison Suburban Utility District’s pump house.
house along the bluff. But we couldn’t see any sign that a road had ever been there. After a little research, I found that Haysborough had been the name of one of the first settlements in the area, and it had been located somewhere north of our house. But I couldn’t find much information about what had happened to the community. We started exploring the neighborhood on walks after work and soon found the hidden neighborhood of Tanglewood, tucked in the brush along Love Branch
Creek, just north of Briley Parkway (for the full story see the March-April 2014 issue of The East Nashvillian). We also found a small gated compound at the north end of Brush Hill Road, with a large pond and several older homes. I saw on a map that the pond was called Cheek Lake, and it seemed like you could access it from Lakewood Drive, just north of Spring Hill Cemetery off Gallatin Pike. But that road ended in a locked gate with a sign saying “Private Drive,” so I gave it up as a mystery. → November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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Newman Cheek’s original dam and bridge over Love’s Branch. (Below) An original stock certificate for The Lakewood Water Company.
Many years later, we moved our business from downtown Nashville up to a new location in Madison, and my curiosity was stoked again about why Madison had its own water district inside of Metro Davidson County. I started researching in my spare time, and was amazed by the story I found, one that tied together so many of the questions I had years ago. The town of Haysborough was officially recognized by an act of the 3rd General Assembly of Tennessee in 1799. However, there had been a community at that site since around 1783, when the Rev. Thomas Craighead and a party of settlers from Kentucky and Virginia started a settlement, with the large Spring Hill Meetinghouse acting as both their church and the schoolhouse. The school grew in stature, evolving into Davidson Academy, and attracted students from wealthy families in Nashville. Apparently, these families grew tired of the six-mile horseback ride and ferry crossing to Spring Hill each day, and convinced the General Assembly to move the school to Nashville, renaming it Cumberland College. For various reasons, including the loss of Davidson Academy, and major flooding in 1800 and then again in 1810, residents of Haysborough began selling their land and moving away. The town faded from memory, with only a few grave markers and home foundations still visible by the early 1910s. Around that time, Newman Cheek, the son of Joel Cheek of Maxwell House Coffee fame, purchased land along the bluff of the Cumberland River and built a large estate he called “Sherwood Forest.” He built a bridge and dam across Love’s Branch, which created a lake and, unbeknownst to him, covered what was once the town of Haysborough. On the other side of the → November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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bridge, he built a water treatment plant to pump water from the river and filter it for use on his estate. In the early 1900s, many Nashville residents built summer cottages along the Cumberland River bluffs north of town to escape the city heat. Newman Cheek offered to allow the residents of the Montague neighborhood north of his estate to tap into his water treatment system. Cheek saw the benefits of a secure water supply to the growth of the area, both residential and commercial, and in 1937 he successfully lobbied the State to form the first non-municipal utility district, giving his now-incorporated Lakewood Water Company the exclusive monopoly for water service for the area. Today, the renamed Madison Suburban Utility District serves an estimated population of 70,000 in Inglewood, Madison, and parts of Goodlettsville, with capacity of 16.5 million gallons of water per day. You might think that all of that water couldn’t possibly be filtered and pumped at the same location that Newman Cheek picked almost 100 years ago, but you’d be wrong. I reached out to Cindy Ellis, the general manager of the Madison Suburban Utility District, to see if I could get a tour of the old facility. She met me at the end of Lakewood Drive, and let me through the electric gate at the entrance to the plant, explaining that the gates were all part of security upgrades required by the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. She introduced me to Todd Shumate, the assistant plant manager, who graciously spent almost two hours showing us around the entire facility. We saw the dam Newman Cheek had built to create Cheek Lake, and the original brick water intake tower, looking like the turret from an old castle. Then we toured the new water intake
tower, this one made of concrete, about 50 yards upstream from the dam. There, large electric pumps pull water from the Cumberland River, and pump it over to the beginnings of the filtration process. The water is first mixed and dosed with activated charcoal powder and coagulants, and then moved to mixing and settling tanks. The coagulants and charcoal attract organic materials in the water and settle to the bottom of the tanks. The nowclearer water then flows into one of many filter tanks, where it passes through layers of sand and crushed coal, which removes fine particles that did not settle out. These filters are periodically backwashed to flush out the particles, and then the filter bed is reset and reused. The clean water is held in an enclosed tank in a building next to the filtration area, where it is dosed with small amounts of chlorine and fluorine. From there, powerful 500 horsepower pumps take it into the distribution pipelines that feed multiple water tanks on hills in the Madison area. The pumps, as well as the height of the water in these tanks, provide the water pressure and flow to each tap in the system. I was impressed by how well-trained and enthusiastic all the staff at MSUD were about their jobs. Todd took us through all the training that is required, and showed us all the multiples of lab tests they run daily on the water, both at their facility and also out in the community. If Madison is going to be a destination for businesses and for people looking for a great place to live, the quality and reliability of the water supply is critical. Newman Cheek knew this and had the foresight to make it a reality in 1937; the folks at Madison Suburban Utility District are making sure tradition continues into the next generation. November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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A Shooting Ira Louvin’s tragic tale of life
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(L-R) Ira and Charlie Louvin in happier times, circa 1956 Photo courtesy Light in the Attic Records
IN Madison By Randy Fox
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Photo courtesy Light in the Attic Records
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n a chilly Wednesday evening, February 20, 1963, six rapidly fired shots rang out from the bedroom of a modest, single-family home on Westchester Drive in Madison, Tennessee. The door to the master bedroom burst open as a tall, thin man stumbled out, trailing blood across the carpet and hardwood floors into the living room where an informal party ended suddenly. The next day’s headlines told the tale:
“GRAND OLE OPRY STAR IRA LOUVIN SHOT BY WIFE” It wasn’t Ira Louvin’s first violent encounter, nor would it be his last. As the only brothers in a family of seven children, Ira and Charlie Loudermilk spent long hours working in the Northeastern Alabama cotton fields with their hard-bitten and frequently abusive father. While their older sisters escaped the household through early marriages, Charlie and Ira found solace in music they learned in church and the less sacred tunes they heard on the Saturday night broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry. By the early 1940s, they had left home for factory jobs, simplified their names to “Louvin,” and struggled to build a country music career as the “Louvin Brothers.” World War II interrupted their plans, but upon their return from military service, they found their chosen style of country music quickly becoming passé. Although brother duos were among the most popular hillbilly acts in the 1930s, the post-war music scene brought many new hard-hitting styles. Many of the surviving brother duos updated to the new bluegrass style. The Louvins chose a different path — resetting the parameters of their sound by injecting a post-war sensibility combined with some of the purest close harmony singing ever recorded. From 1955 through 1957, the Louvin Brothers scored a string of hits drawing from country music’s home and hearth roots but infused with a post-honky tonk polish. They also recorded classic country gospel albums, including the harrowing and jaw dropping 1957 concept album, Satan is Real. Based on Ira Louvin’s personal battle with sin and salvation, it was a long stark stare directly into the abyss. It was a conflict Ira understood particularly well. While he possessed a natural charisma and was a talented lyricist → November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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and skilled musician, he was also stubborn to a fault and possessed a mercurial temper, traits which moved to the forefront when fanned by the flames of alcohol. For Ira, the battle between good and evil was ever present and one that he lost again and again. Rock ’n’ roll’s arrival in the late 1950s ushered in a slicker, more pop-oriented country sound, bringing an end to the Louvin Brother’s hits. Ira doubled down on drinking, leading to public temper tantrums, public and private brawls, and a trail of smashed mandolins. Trouble also manifested in his domestic life as his third wife, Faye Cunningham Louvin, matched him drink for drink and punch for punch. On that fateful February night in 1963, the violence reached a crescendo as the couple hosted an informal party at their home in Madison. Opry performers Roy Acuff, Shot Jackson, and Smiley Wilson were drinking with Ira, while Faye entertained two of Ira’s sisters. As was often the case, tempers flared between Ira and Faye and quickly escalated. Retreating to their bedroom, the details of what followed have been thoroughly Rashōmoned over the years, but it culminated with Faye grabbing a .22 pistol Ira kept under his pillow and pumping six bullets into her husband — one in his hand, two in his chest, and three in his back. With the telephone smashed in the fight, Acuff and the other musicians sped to a nearby market on Dickerson Road to phone for an ambulance and the police. They also called Charlie Louvin, who had recently moved to Fairview, Tennessee, hoping to avoid his frequent role as referee in Ira and Faye’s battles When Charlie arrived at the hospital, Ira’s prognosis was serious but hopeful. Faye was questioned by the police and her legal prognosis was much dimmer. “If he ain’t dead now, I’ll shoot him again!” Faye
told the detectives, without the advice of counsel. Ira soon convinced his brother to lodge charges of attempted murder and criminal lunacy against Faye. While Ira recuperated in the hospital, Faye was arrested and detained at the Davidson County Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. She was released from custody five days later with a $1,000 bond. After hearing Roy Acuff ’s leveled-headed version of events, Charlie Louvin had the charges against Faye dropped. Although Ira survived, his marriage and his musical partnership did not. In August 1963, after a particularly viscious argument following a show in Watseka, Illinois, Ira informed Charlie he was quitting the music business and Charlie should get a job pumping gas because he would never succeed without him. It was an angry, hurtful, and empty threat Charlie had heard before, but this time he took his brother at his word. Charlie soon launched a solo career that proved to be long and successful. Ira stepped away from the spotlight for over a year, turning his attention to designing and repairing mandolins. He returned to recording and performing in late 1964, after marrying his fourth wife, Anne Florence Louvin. On June 20, 1965, Ira and Anne, along with another couple, were returning from a performance in Jefferson City, Missouri when all four were killed in a head-on car crash near Williamsburg, Missouri. Although Ira was enjoying a brief period of sobriety, the driver of the other car was drunk, with a blood alcohol level far exceeding the legal limit. Five months later Capitol Records released Ira’s one and only solo album, The Unforgettable Ira Louvin, a final testament from a man who could not escape the “Drunkard’s Doom,” no matter which path he chose. November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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EASTSIDE BOWL PLANS TO SCORE BIG IN MADISON BY RA N DY F OX
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little over a year ago, the buzz about the revitalization of the old Madison Bowl building in north Madison was stirring excitement. With former music venue owners and designers Jamie Ruben (The Family Wash) and Chark Kinsolving (The Cannery, The Mercy Lounge), and Nashville businessman and investor Tommy Pierce (A+ Storage
of Tennessee, The Basement East) at the helm, it looked like a perfect 300 score was in store. But when the deal fell through, it definitely felt like a gutter ball. Despite their disappointment, Ruben, Kinsolving, and Pierce didn’t give up on their vision; they just moved it a little further south, to the former K-Mart building at 1508 Gallatin Pike. → November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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“We were walking around looking at it,” Kinsolving says. “We’d been in the K-Mart before but never seen what was behind the walls of the retail area. We walked into an old shipping and receiving area. There was already a mezzanine level built in. I swore I’d never build or own another music venue, but I couldn’t help thinking, “You could put a stage right there. The bar could go over here. There’s the balcony.” Within five minutes I’d laid the whole thing out. It just made sense.” With more room to expand the reformulated “Eastside Bowl” not only found a new home but expanded into a multi-entertainment venue. Plans for the 32,000 square foot complex now include 16 lanes of bowling, featuring both conventional ten-pin bowling along with a new, hightech variation called Hyperbowling. “It’s hard to explain,” Kinsolving says. “It’s a little like bowling crossed with a pinball
machine. I’ve played it in Florida and Indiana and it’s really fun, plus nobody else has it in the Middle Tennessee area.” Along with the bowling area, the design includes a 24-hour, 125-seat diner with a patio area, a 5,000 square foot music venue with a balcony and patio area — featuring two stages to accommodate both large and smaller more, intimate performances, a game room, and a bar and lounge area. “The extra square footage enabled us to look at the concept in a different way,” Kinsolving says. “We played around with the floor plans for probably four months, shifting things around until we got a plan we were really satisfied with. It’s a large interior renovation project, but much of the mechanical infrastructure is already in place. We’ve already signed the lease, began the permit process, and we hope to be open by August 2020.”
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SO MUCH LIFE. SO MUCH VALUE. We’re Celebrating A Fresh Start With A Pre-Renovation Offer Cadence at Rivergate, an assisted living community in Madison, is undergoing a transformation. To celebrate, we are locking in the base rates for new residents who move in by December 31st. For more information, please email pwissel@cadencesl.com, call 615.855.1979, or visit cadencerivergate.com. ASSISTED LIVING
94 Twin Hills Drive | Madison, TN 37115
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The Madisonian November|December 2019
Giving a Lift TO LIVES&SPIRITS Senior RideNashville BY RANDY FOX
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magine living alone in Nashville with no easy access to transportation and chronic health problems. It’s a reality that many of Davidson County’s 30,000 adults age 75 and older face every day. Senior Ride Nashville addresses that dilemma. Launched in November 2017 by the Council on Aging of Middle Tennessee and the Senior Transportation Leadership Coalition, the service offers affordable assisted rides, pairing seniors with volunteer drivers. For an initial $25 membership fee (which can be waived based on hardship), riders aged 60 and older can secure one-way rides for $3 and roundtrip rides (less than three hours in length) for $6. After launching the program in Bellevue and West Nashville, Senior Ride Nashville expanded their service areas in March 2018 to include Madison, Donelson, Hermitage, Old Hickory, and East Nashville. Riders can make advance reservations online for trips anywhere in Davidson
County, but the benefits go beyond simple transportation. “What’s really great is seeing relationships form,” Senior Ride Nashville’s Executive Director Carrie Brumfield says. “For older adults that no longer drive, social isolation is very real and problematic. It’s a wonderful by-product that our service can help to alleviate that isolation. At the same time, drivers say how much they enjoy meeting people who’ve lived interesting lives, want to talk, and are so grateful for what you’re doing for them.” Although the program has proved a success, with plans to eventually provide service throughout Davidson County, Brumfield says the biggest challenge is recruiting enough volunteer drivers. “This is a neighbors helping neighbors program,” she says. “It’s so simple just to give somebody a ride a few times a month on a schedule of your choosing, and you’re making a tremendous difference in somebody else’s life.”
For more information on utilizing Senior Ride Nashville services or to volunteer as a driver visit seniorridenashville.org November|December 2019 The Madisonian
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The Madisonian November|December 2019