In an Ever-Changing Nashville, The District Wants to Preserve Downtown History

When Michele Trueba thinks of her past living in downtown Nashville, an old Barbara Mandrell hit comes to mind. 

“I was downtown when downtown wasn’t cool,” she tells the Scene. Trueba, a real estate agent and chair of nonprofit The District, remembers a time when there were 400 families living downtown, where she resided from 1997 to 2007. Today, there are more than 22,000 residents in the area. 

“It just used to be a core group, and when you went out, you just saw the same people all the time,” Trueba says. “It was the downtown employees who would hang out for happy hour, and the downtown residents. There was very little tourism back then.” 

The District seeks to preserve and promote the history and culture of the area, which includes Lower Broadway, Second Avenue and Printers Alley. On Sept. 16, the nonprofit is throwing its 40th annual Progressive Party fundraiser. The party will progress along three locations: The Stage, Jelly Roll’s Goodnight Nashville and Hampton Social — each representing a different side of downtown. 

The nonprofit’s regular projects include yearly downtown holiday decorations and a monthly meeting for area business owners and stakeholders to discuss safety, events and development updates. In the past, The District also funded efforts including a downtown trash study (which examined how better to collect and manage the area’s huge garbage output) and gave funds to repair alleys and sidewalks, among other beautification efforts. 

The District’s work also includes contracting artists to create pieces on boards covering damage from the Christmas Day 2020 bombing on Second Avenue. While the street reopened in December, the mural effort is still underway as a handful of buildings stand damaged and in limbo. 

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Michelle Scopel works as the urban development senior project manager for the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, which restores the street and its underpinnings. She’s set to receive the Judy Steele Bayer Service Award at next week’s event. Cumberland Hospitality Group restaurateur Barrett Hobbs is set to receive the Spirit of the District Award.  

“I personally have seen a lot more traffic on Second Avenue, which makes me smile and happy, because back when I first moved here to Tennessee, that was where we hung out,” says The District board member Kelly Kaplan. “Second Avenue was where it was — it wasn’t Broadway necessarily. So it’s exciting to see that it is being activated and used.” 

While downtown Nashville is now a symbol of changing times to many locals, Trueba points out that there are still many independent businesses worth supporting in the area. Preserving locally owned venues like Layla’s, Robert’s Western World, The Stage and Legends Corner is important, and even the bars with big country names on them still have local owners and staff. 

Trueba says people who say nothing’s the same anymore haven’t been to Printers Alley, Second Avenue or even Lower Broadway lately. There are still through-lines to when she moved to Nashville in the ’90s. 

“We want people to know that downtown is still a neighborhood,” Trueba says. “It’s still a community. It’s not strictly an entertainment district. It’s both.” 

Disclosure: The Scene is a sponsor of The District’s Sept. 16 event.