Beloved Nashville church site reduced to rubble in 2020 tornado could see new life under councilman’s new proposal

What This Story Is About

• Metro Councilman Jordan Huffman announced a proposal to redevelop the site of a beloved Hermitage church destroyed in the March 2020 tornado.

Why It Matters

• Huffman describes the church as a place that stood for “generations” and it was one of many losses that came of the tornadic event.

What Happens Next

• The proposal will be put before the Metro Planning Commission on August 20.

For Context

• According to the National Weather Service, the March 2-3 tornadoes in 2020 came from several supercell thunderstorms, with the worst of the tornadoes touching down across Middle Tennessee.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - In March 2020, an early morning tornado hit the Nashville area, reducing a beloved Hermitage church to rubble.

Dodson Chapel United Methodist Church, which was built in 1906, took a direct hit from the twister, which struck as an EF3. Rev. Chris Seifert, senior pastor of Hermitage United Methodist Church, told the United Methodist Church’s news service that it was “heartbreaking to look at.”

“The church building itself is pretty much gone,” he said.

According to the National Weather Service, the March 2-3 tornadoes in 2020 came from several supercell thunderstorms, with the worst of the tornadoes touching down across Middle Tennessee. Hundreds of people were injured and more than two dozen people were killed.

“These tornadoes were the worst seen in Tennessee since the devastating tornadoes of April 27, 2011 across East Tennessee,” NWS said, adding that the two strongest and most damaging twisters were EF-3s that tracked over 60 miles.

The site has yet to rebuild.

But now, Metro Councilman Jordan Huffman has announced a proposal to redevelop the site in a way that preserves the church’s history.

“For generations, Dodson Chapel United Methodist Church stood at the corner of Dodson Chapel Road and Old Hickory Boulevard. The 2020 tornado destroyed the church building, and the property has remained vacant ever since,” Huffman said.

He said that a proposal is moving forward to create a landscaped berm at the site of the church with native wildflowers and trees. The berm, he said, would “screen an employee building with space for breaks, restrooms and showers.” There would also be room to potentially expand the sidewalk in the future.

At the core of the proposal is a permanent memorial. Huffman said that memorial would include the church’s original bell “so that a meaningful piece of Dodson Chapel’s history remains on the property for years to come.”

Huffman is also hoping to include protections in the legislation that would prevent any blasting or mining on the property.

The proposal will be put before the Metro Planning Commission on August 20.

“My goal is to improve this highly visible corner while respecting the history that belongs there,” Huffman said.