Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.
It’s been a long time since 1997, and Nashville has changed a lot since then. But when listening to people reminisce about Opryland USA, it doesn’t feel like it’s been more than 25 years since Nashville’s last major theme park closed. By all accounts, Opryland was beloved, with music-themed attractions, iconic coasters like Chaos and frequent concerts from local artists.
After Gaylord Entertainment closed Opryland in 1997 to build the Opry Mills mall, no other park emerged to take its place. This wasn’t because the community didn’t want a theme park. Opryland’s closure was a wildly unpopular decision; by 2004, Gaylord employees told The Tennessean they didn’t understand why former execs closed the park in the first place.
But over the next two decades, Nashville still didn’t get a theme park.
In 2011, there was a short-lived glimmer of hope. A developer named Dennis Peterson announced Festival Tennessee, a new park in Spring Hill. It was set to include two 4,000-room hotels, restaurants and clubs, and an NBA team. But this would prove to be a pipe dream. Local alderman Jonathan Duda told the Williamson Scene (then known as the Williamson Home Page) that the developers’ concept plans had I-65 going east to west, which was an initial red flag. After an attempt at rezoning land for the park and meetings with investors, Peterson seemingly disappeared.
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There has been other chatter as well. Comedian Nate Bargatze recently said he wants to build a park called “Nateland,” and in 2016 there was talk of a terrifying-looking downtown “Polercoaster.” Dolly Parton even explored opening a park in 2012.
But all of these proposals aside, there’s still one theme park that might finally give Nashville its chance again — though it’s difficult to find out many details about it.
Originally announced in 2021, Storyville Gardens is a theme park intended to foster a passion for reading by making stories come to life — it’s designed in part to boost childhood literacy by encouraging kids to read for fun. The park is the passion project of DeLisa Guerrier, who runs local development company Guerrier Development. Guerrier has developed the park in collaboration with Storyland Studios, a group of former Disney/Pixar, Universal and LEGOLAND employees who have helped plan other regional parks in the past.
Early coverage of Storyville Gardens showed convincing mock-ups and big plans. In 2022, the Nashville Business Journal reported that the group was eyeing a site in Lebanon. Fox 17 reported that Hendersonville was being considered. And Guerrier partnered with notable local developer Pat Emery, known for his work on Franklin Park in Cool Springs and Fifth + Broadway downtown.
Initial coverage of Storyville Gardens said building would start in 2024 or 2025. And as recently as July 2024, Guerrier told a Bisnow reporter: “Right now, we have secured quite a bit of land — we’re on a little bit over 800 acres. We are working with the local government to finalize all the details. The park is a small part of the development, and then we have a lot of other incredible amenities, both residential and hospitality components, along with a pretty incredible golf course.”
More recently, however, the Storyville team has gone quiet. Since the summer there have been few updates about the park, and Storyville’s website and Facebook page have remained relatively unchanged from their last major updates. Online, there’s been speculation: Did Storyville hit a snag when developer Pat Emery died in 2022? Do they have a location? Is the park still happening at all?
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When the Scene reached out to the Storyville team, they offered a promising — if mysterious — response. This response came via email from The Ingram Group, a strategic consulting and lobbying firm that’s partnering with Guerrier to develop the park.
“Since our last public update on this exciting project, the development team has been working hard on plans for a destination community anchored by Storyville Gardens, a one-of-a-kind theme park celebrating literature from around the world,” a representative for the Storyville team writes.
The statement continues: “Recent accomplishments include securing a new development partner following the passing of our friend and former partner Pat Emery; completing our review of numerous potential development sites; finalizing our selection of a location that will maximize the project’s economic impact; and continued partnership discussions with state and local officials around Storyville’s plans to promote youth literacy and catalyze a family entertainment destination in our region.”
Significantly, the Storyville team also called the larger project by a different name: StoryVillage, a larger development that will include “additional entertainment and retail” as well as the park.
When pressed about “finalizing our selection of a location,” the team wouldn’t offer many specifics. But in a follow-up phone call, they did share some general information. The proposed location is “along one of the interstate corridors outside of Davidson County while remaining convenient to Nashville,” a representative tells the Scene.
Guerrier has not yet shared whether the group currently owns land or has finalized architectural plans. There is currently no information about whether rides and attractions are being built, and they have not shared the park’s proposed location. When contacted about the park, representatives for the Lebanon, Hendersonville and Sumner County planning departments say they haven’t received any zoning applications from Guerrier.
In their email, The Ingram Group says the project is “alive and well and continuing to take shape.”
And in the meantime, Nashville will just have to wait. But another few years hardly seems like that long — not when the city has been waiting for another park since 1997.
