Metro Councilman Anthony Davis has requested the city's Board of Zoning Appeals defer a vote that will decide the future of a historic Madison home with ties to Elvis, giving the community time to find a way to preserve it.
"I have preserved it for 20 years," said former attorney Steve North, who currently owns the property. "Everyone says what a shame it'd be to tear it down, but no one makes an offer."
North has searched for a new owner to preserve the home once owned by Colonel Tom Parker, who managed Elvis Presley for decades. Elvis often slept in the home while in recording music in Nashville.
But after four years of no offers from anyone other than buyers who planned to tear the building down, North gave in. Now, a sale is pending - the new owner plans to demolish the home to build a car wash.
'The property is worth more without the building," he said.
Experts with Historic Nashville said that is the reality for many historic properties zoned in commercial corridors, just like the Col. Parker home.
"The neighborhoods are protected with overlays and designations, but the commercial zones are not," said Robbie Jones, with Historic Nashville. "That allows them more freedom, but it also allows for the demolition of these historic properties to happen much ore quickly and with less resistance."
Jones said a deferred vote will give community members a little more time to find a preservation-minded idea.
"There is a solution for this home, we just need some time to find it," he said.
