NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Music City Center is so large, it spans three city blocks in downtown Nashville. But now, tourism leaders are asking the question, should the downtown convention center be even bigger?
"Back in the early 2000s, when we were talking about building this, people thought we were crazy," said Charles Starks, the president and CEO of Music City Center.
Eleven years since the facility first opened, Starks said they've proven all the doubters wrong.
"What our business levels have been, have just been phenomenal. Our advanced bookings are better than they’ve ever been," he said. "What we’re starting to get into now is that we’re turning away a lot more business than we’re able to book."
Starks said even though their cavernous building has 2.1 million square feet of space, it's still not big enough for some of the biggest conventions out there.
"We’ve got customers that are willing to come here if we just had more space," said Starks.
So as the center entertains the idea of expansion, they've commissioned a feasibility study. It was actually an idea they first entertained in 2019, before the pandemic.
"Let us look at the amount of business that you’ve turned away because you didn’t have space. Let’s talk to customers that are outgrowing your space and understand what your needs look like," Starks said.
Perhaps the even bigger question — if Music City Center decides they do want to expand, where would it go? Downtown is already pretty landlocked.
"So we could add onto this facility. We can go vertical and do more there if we chose," said Starks.
He said while outward expansion using neighboring land might be difficult, it is still possible. So is the idea of a stand-alone facility elsewhere downtown.
"I think it is feasible and is doable. Something that maybe this industry didn’t think a few years ago was possible," he said. "I was just in Seattle a couple of weeks ago, where just a year ago now, they opened a second building that is a couple of blocks from the original convention center."
It is important to note, Music City Center is still paying down the original 30-year bonds that funded the construction of their current facility.
"We’ve been really fortunate. We’ve got ample revenues to cover what our debt service is and what our capital is as we’re moving forward," said Starks.
He said a similar method could be used to pay for the expansion if the feasibility study recommends that route.
"We’ll see how this study comes out," he said.
This comes as the new home of the Tennessee Titans, the new Nissan Stadium, will come online in 2027. The enclosed stadium will also be available for convention bookings. Starks says the two facilities are already working together to land bigger events.
The expansion feasibility study is slated to be complete by summer of 2025. Metro Council would have to give their approval for any expansion effort to move forward.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
