RENDERING BY KIMLEY HORN AND ESA
When Jami-lyn Fehr decided to expand MODISTE, her luxury designer boutique, she wanted it to be in a walkable neighborhood.
She wanted something like downtown Franklin or New York City, where the density of shops and restaurants encourages customers to stroll and try things on, and then sit at a café with their bags by their sides. She loves the Victorian architecture of historic Second Avenue, so she decided to head downtown.
“Second Avenue has always been my favorite street in Nashville,” she says. Originally she rented, then a floor of a nearby building went on the market, and she bought it. She re-opened in her new space in November 2023, and then, there were seven months without any foot traffic.
That’s because Second Avenue has been through some stuff. On Christmas Day, 2020, a bomber detonated an explosive in his RV that he had parked on the street. Thankfully, the street was quiet that day due to the holiday. No one besides the bomber was killed, although eight people were injured, and the explosion caused significant damage to buildings and infrastructure on the blocks of Second Avenue of Broadway, as well as wiping out some telephone and Internet access throughout the city for several days. More than half of the street-level storefronts closed after the blast and its aftermath. (That wasn’t even the first time Second Avenue faced a disaster; in 1985, a warehouse fire damaged some buildings.)
Some people consider Second Avenue the “birthplace” of the city of Nashville. Once called Market Street, it was where people bought and sold goods that came to town via the nearby Cumberland River. In 1972, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
MAKING GOOD FROM BAD
Michelle Scopel, Senior Project Manager for MDHA Urban Development, is focused on the Second Avenue Recovery project. MDHA is implementing the construction with Metro Planning, Metro Water (regarding stormwater separation), the Mayor’s Office (both past and present) and the Nashville Downtown Partnership. The efforts started in February 2021, when much of the community was still shell-shocked from the blast, and also deep in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. But even with the darkness of that time, Scopel says, it was clear that people cared about the street’s historic character, its trees, and its vibe that has always been different than the surrounding blocks. (In 2022, the Tennessee State Museum received some artifacts for its collection from the bombing, once investigators no longer needed them.)
“Second Avenue really hadn’t had much of any sort of improvement,” says Crissy Cassetty, director, economic development for the Nashville Downtown Partnership. “It’s such an important part of downtown. When the bomb went off, it just felt like the right time to improve upon it.”
So, while the bombing was terrible, it has allowed the city, with all its agencies, to think about rebuilding Second Avenue for better. Instead of just putting it back together again, where it was in December 2020, it is getting improvements. That means wider sidewalks that will accommodate al fresco dining. It means new trees that are better suited for the urban environment. It means the city’s first International DarkSky-approved lighting. And artwork by Nashville artist (and former councilperson) Phil Ponder will hang street level on the AT&T building and depict the Victorian-era brickwork of days gone by.
But for all of that to come to fruition, to make Second Avenue a place both worthy of its history and a place that gives locals and tourists alike a different urban experience, everyone has to make it through construction. And that’s been tough. Construction has been happening block by block, so some blocks, like Fehr’s, are completed while others are underway. The hope is to have all of the construction completed by the end of 2025.
Right now, work is underway on what Scopel calls “the most challenging block,” the block closest to Broadway. It’s challenging work, she says, and because much of the infrastructure is buried, there were some elements where they didn’t know what would be involved until they started digging. And that’s meant even more construction.
The overwhelming majority (about 70 percent) of merchants on the three blocks of Second Avenue north of Broadway are locally owned businesses. They need help. While Fehr could sell clothing online or schedule appointments with customers who want exclusive inventory, other businesses, such as restaurants and bars, need people in-person, construction be damned.
Cerveza Jack’s, a bar and Baja Mexican restaurant that has been on Second Avenue since 2016, has felt the pain. “It has been a rollercoaster since the blast,” says Frank Miller, director of Nashville operations for Good Time Designs, Cerveza Jack’s owner. “Construction on Second Avenue this year has been brutal. Through June, we have been off on average 30 percent.” For July and August 2024, it has been closer to 50 percent, he says. “Very painful.”
A STEP UP
The Nashville Downtown Partnership and other city departments are aiming to help. For example, the city is expediting the permit process so that businesses that want to have outdoor dining when the sidewalks are done can do so without fees through March 2026. The Nashville Downtown Partnership created the Turn the Corner campaign, which includes signage and other elements to encourage folks to walk north on Second Avenue from Broadway. They want people to know that both the street and businesses are open. (The construction on Chief ’s, Eric Church’s six-story venue at the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue added additional construction obstacles; that work is now finished.)
Many Nashvillians have fond memories of Second Avenue, shopping there with their parents for special occasions. Scopel, a Nashville native, thinks a diverse mix of businesses (see sidebar) and the improvements on the street should be a draw for locals to come back. She bought four rings at Agora International Jewelry & Gifts and is “pacing herself ” from buying more. Like the best of Nashville streets, there are not one, not two, but three different places to buy boots on Second Avenue. (One of those is French’s Shoes & Boots, which has been in business for generations and another, Freebird, intentionally expanded to Second Avenue because of the potential.) Many merchants are offering incentives for customers during the construction, including lunch specials at the acclaimed Gray & Dudley.
“Ultimately, when you are looking at a street, the city can do so much in terms of streetscape, hardscape, and landscaping, but the property owners have to put the right businesses into their spaces for it to really gel as a retail district,” Cassetty says. So, the Downtown Partnership has been working with property owners to create a cross-section of businesses that appeal to downtown workers and downtown residents. “We would ultimately love for Second Avenue to be more of a local destination.”
Of course, its proximity to Lower Broadway, the re-opening of the former Wildhorse Saloon as Luke Combs Bar, and many short-term rentals and nearby hotels, mean tourists, too, will have reason to stick around Second Avenue. Pedestrian walkways, such as that on Bankers Alley, will encourage people to stroll.
Fehr, for her part, has a vision of what she would like Second Avenue to look like when the jackhammers are put away. “I love to walk down Main Street in Franklin at Christmas time, and it’s just wholesome, with families and Christmas lights, and I feel like downtown Nashville never really gets that. I’d like to have a place where you can sit on the sidewalk and have coffee or a sandwich,” she says. “There’s a place for Broadway, and a place for something else, too.”
A SECOND LOOK AT SECOND AVENUE
The businesses on Second Avenue North are largely locally owned and offer a diverse cross-section of experiences for both residents and tourists. Turn the Corner and check them out.
- Agora International Jewelry & Gifts
- Anderson Design Studio
- AVA Rooftop Bar
- The Bankers Alley Hotel Nashville
- Big Jimmy’s
- Big Shotz
- Boot Barn
- Cerveza Jack’s
- Coyote Ugly Saloon
- Doc Holliday’s Saloon
- DraftKings Sports & Social
- Freebird
- French’s Shoes and Boots
- Gray & Dudley
- Hard Rock Café
- Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.
- Leon’s Candy
- Liquor Lab
- The Lounge @ 2nd
- Market Street Mercantile
- Mattheessen’s
- Mike’s Ice Cream
- MODISTE
- Mr. Pizza
- Nashville Live!
- Nashville Riverfront Lofts
- Nashville Souvenir
- One Fourteen
- PBR Cowboy Bar
- The Stillery
- Studio 154
- Taco Bell Cantina