Metro has begun developing Wharf Park roughly a year after the Metro Homeless Impact Division abruptly cleared the site. At the time, more than 100 people lived in a decades-old encampment known as Old Tent City.
Last year, downtown Councilmember Jacob Kupin said the sudden focus on shutting down Old Tent City was separate from city real estate plans to eventually develop more than 20 acres into a plaza and boathouse. At Tuesday night's Metro Council meeting, Kupin sponsored legislation reclassifying the downtown rail corridor that runs directly through the planned park, scoring an early victory that will facilitate its development.
Residents plan for next steps as police and social workers manage a 60-day countdown at large downtown encampment
The area has since been entirely fenced off and partially cleared, with notices posted by Metro announcing Wharf Park Phase 1. They name Mayor Freddie O’Connell, Metro Parks Director Monique Odom and Kupin, who says he was not aware the city was moving forward with the park in his district. Kupin clarifies to the Scene that the railway legislation was relevant “all across downtown.” He says he was not aware that the Metro Parks Department had posted a Phase 1 notification at the site with his name on it.
“Parks and green space is essential to a vibrant and thriving downtown,” Kupin tells the Scene Wednesday. “I’m meeting with Parks in the coming weeks to discuss next steps with Wharf Park and look forward to learning more about its progress.”
The city and state control abutting parcels that were home to more than 100 people who lived in trailers, temporary shelters and tents between Anthes Drive, the Silliman Evans Bridge and the Cumberland River. One man, who identified himself as Dallas, built a two-story cottage (pictured below) with salvaged wood under I-24; it was among several structures demolished in the clearance using running water, electricity or both. Some had even received Metro codes violations, though none had a formal address. The city gave several explanations for the sudden clearance, including worries about residents’ safety and the state’s desire to do maintenance work under the interstate.
Old Tent City encampment near Hermitage Avenue
Initial designs for Wharf Park began in 2019 under former Mayor David Briley. In 2022, Mayor John Cooper spent more than $20 million to purchase nearby 88 Hermitage Ave., former home to the Tennessee School for the Blind’s segregated school for African Americans. The dilapidated campus sits atop a bluff and ties into park plans, and has sat empty for years. The O’Connell administration inherited a Wharf Park master plan in 2023. Since the clearing of Old Tent City, the mayor has moved the extensive remodel forward.
Wharf Park concepts developed with input from the Nashville Rowing Club, which would be a major beneficiary of its centerpiece: a boathouse where rowers could launch into the Cumberland River. Renderings also show a skate park, dog park, basketball courts, greenway trailhead and a “Tot Lot” play area. Plans also promise a new platform for the WeGo Star, Nashville’s only commuter passenger train, which runs below the bluff on its daily journey between downtown and Mt. Juliet.
