Masterplan to be released for new Antioch community hub
When people come to the Nashville Public Library Southeast Branch, the building looks brand new and alive. The complex next to it looks the complete opposite.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) -A masterplan will soon be revealed for a giant community hub in Antioch.
A year ago, Metro Council bought Hickory Hollow Mall for $46 million off Bell Road. Plans are being finalized for what exactly is going in the mall’s place and when people could start seeing changes.
When people come to the Nashville Public Library Southeast Branch, the building looks brand new and alive. The complex next to it looks the complete opposite.
“I realized it’s a dead mall,” said Walt Handloser, visiting the area for the first time Tuesday. “It’s not just a library at a mall. It’s like a library attached to the corpse of a dead mall.”
“It is frozen in time,” said Metro Councilmember, Joy Styles. “It looks like a museum.”
Styles knows the mall is an eyesore. It has sat empty for years, but she promised progress is coming.
“I wish we could snap our fingers or click our heels like Dorothy and this all be done,” Styles said.
She said the plan is for the massive mall to be knocked down. In its place will be a new senior center, a performing arts center, and even a daycare center. Vanderbilt University Medical Center will also have offices.
“Where we are standing is going to be what’s over that way – a regional transit hub,” said Styles.
There will also be a new multi-million-dollar transportation center. That part of the project received $5 million in federal grant money. When the government gets involved, Styles says progress slows down.
“I know people are dying to know specifics but it’s unreasonable,” Styles explained.
She said the new building must match the building designs a new KIPP high school and Nashville State Community College location have in place on site. The entire project will be done in phases and there’s no end date yet. Styles said she will see the plan through.
“I’m holding people accountable,” she said. “If you say you are doing it, you are definitely doing it.”
The goal is to make the area for the people who live there, like malls used to be.
“It would be great to see it be a great usable space by the community,” said Handloser. “It currently is not that. It’s just a cinderblock nightmare over there.”
Styles said she hopes the masterplan with pictures will come out this month. She has a steering committee that is working out the final details.
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