“GATEWAY CORRIDOR” CONSTRUCTION
BEGINS ON DOWNTOWN ENERGY FACILITY
Mayor Purcell Announces
Rolling Mill Hill Construction by mid-2003
November 13, 2002
Contact: David Fox
McNeely Pigott & Fox
(615) 259-4000
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Construction officially began today on the new District Energy System (DES) facility in downtown Nashville, which will replace the old Thermal Transfer plant supplying heat and air conditioning to downtown buildings.
The new DES facility is projected to cost approximately $43.6 million; it is scheduled to be completed in July 2004.
The facility, located at Hermitage Avenue and Peabody Street just south of the old Thermal plant, is the first new building to begin construction within the Gateway Project corridor, and – along with the Gateway Bridge – will become a catalyst for development of the downtown area south of Broadway.
“As the Gateway Bridge begins to take shape over the Cumberland River, and we commence construction of this state-of-the-art district energy facility, the vision of this sector of our city is becoming a reality, and that is very exciting,” said Mayor Bill Purcell, who presided at today’s groundbreaking ceremony.
Mayor Purcell announced that he has asked the Metro Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), which owns much of the land near the DES facility, to begin tomorrow moving forward on a feasibility study and master plan for Rolling Mill Hill, a 34-acre site overlooking the Cumberland River where the old Metro General Hospital now sits.
Mayor Purcell said he would like to see a contractor chosen and construction begin at Rolling Mill Hill by July of 2003.
“The enthusiasm for this project from the Nashville development community suggests that Rolling Mill Hill itself will become a catalyst and help bring about the next significant transformation of our downtown,” the mayor said. “This truly is an exciting day for Nashville.”
The mayor was joined at the event by Metro Council members, MDHA executive director Phil Ryan and representatives from Constellation Energy Source. MDHA, which acquired the DES site for Metro, today officially turned the property over to Constellation, which will oversee construction of the energy generating plant.
Continuing the District Energy Tradition
The Nashville Thermal Transfer Corporation (NTTC) has served the downtown area with heating and cooling since 1974, when it opened as one of the nation’s first waste-to-energy systems. The Thermal Transfer plant burned garbage to generate energy that was used to heat and cool some 39 downtown buildings. It operated as a waste-to-energy facility until May, when a fire at the plant caused Metro to close the garbage burning area and activate electric chillers and natural gas-fired boilers, which have been in operation under Constellation’s control since then.
“The system has worked very well since Constellation took over, and we look forward to the new system’s coming online,” said Richard Fletcher, managing partner of the Nashville City Center downtown and a leader of the coalition of property owners served by the District Energy System.
The existing Thermal Transfer plant will be demolished when the new facility is ready to come on line, to make way for riverfront redevelopment.
New System Offers Increased Capacity
“One of the exciting things about the new DES facility is that it will have the capacity to heat and cool many more buildings than the old system,” said Harvey Gershman, principal of Gershman Brickner and Bratton, Inc., the technical management consultant which has served as Metro’s project manager since Metro announced it intended to develop a new DES system.
“District energy systems are now providing energy to downtown areas in dozens of major U.S. cities, from New York and Washington, D.C., to Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver and more,” said Gershman, one of the nation’s leading consultants in implementing public-private partnerships that include district energy systems. “They lower the cost of energy generation as well as the capital expenditures for the buildings that utilize the system, and they are a tremendous economic development tool for cities.”
The DES facility is being fully funded by project revenue bonds recently sold by Metro. It will be supported by the sale of chilled water and steam to downtown buildings and will not be of any cost to taxpayers. The highly efficient system is expected to save its energy customers approximately 10 percent as compared to their alternatives. Combined with additional savings from changing Metro’s solid waste disposal method to land-filling, Metro expects it will save more than $200 million over the next 20 years.
Several local firms are assisting in the development of the new DES, including Nashville Machine Company as the mechanical contractor, R.C. Mathews as the general contractor, Smith Seckman Reid as the design engineer, Everton Oglesby Askew as the architect and Travis Electric as the electrical contractor.
Constellation Energy Source, of Baltimore,
Md., has been contracted to design, build and operate
the 43,450-square-foot facility, though Metro will maintain
ownership. The Constellation staff responsible for the
design and operation of the Metro Nashville DES has been
involved in the development of many other district energy
plants, including those in Chicago, Boston, New Orleans
and Baltimore.
For more information about the new Metro Nashville District
Energy System, visit www.nashville.gov/des.