MAYOR ASKS MDHA TO LEAD RIVERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT
Capital budget to include first phase of funding
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 8, 2008) -Mayor Karl Dean announced today that he has asked the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) to oversee the redevelopment of the riverfront in downtown Nashville.
“The Cumberland River should be a focal point of our city,” Dean said. “I know MDHA, working with Metro Parks, will be able to guide a comprehensive plan that will integrate the improvement and expansion of Riverfront Park with other redevelopment projects along the river and downtown.”
MDHA has appointed Ed Owens to serve as the waterfront redevelopment director for the agency. Owens has worked for the past 10 years as a principal at Gresham Smith and Partners in charge of Planning and Urban Design. Prior to that, he served as manager of the Current Planning and Design Division for the Metropolitan Planning Department from 1980 to 1998.
Chris Koster, riverfront development director for Metro Parks, will continue to oversee the Parks portion of the redevelopment plan.
Funding to begin the first phase of riverfront redevelopment will be included in the capital spending plan, which is expected to be presented to the Metro Council later this month.
The plan to redevelop Nashville’s riverfront is the result of 16 months of extensive public involvement and dialogue. The plan envisions a redeveloped waterfront as a recreational, environmental, and economic development asset, and includes such public features as new parkland and play spaces, greenways, boardwalks, piers and docking facilities, integrated with significant mixed-use development.
Nashville’s Riverfront Plan was completed in February 2007 by Hargreaves Associates, a Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm that designed waterfront projects in Chattanooga, Knoxville and Louisville, among others. The study was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Metro Parks and Recreation in partnership with the Nashville Civic Design Center.
For media inquiries contact:
Bonna Johnson
615-862-6461
bonna.johnson@nashville.gov