Mayor Megan Barry's administration awarded a for-profit developer the right to build condos and office space on Nashville's Fort Negley Park. This development would permanently destroy 21 acres of parkland in Nashville's urban core, where greenspace is dwindling because of boom-time development. Our mission is to:
1. Save our public parkland: If we destroy Fort Negley Park to build condos and offi
ces, then no parkland in Nashville is safe. Downtown is already starved for greenspace.
2.Preserve Nashville's unique history: Fort Negley is a nationally recognized Civil War Heritage site. In 1862, hundreds of African Americans, former slaves and freedmen, worked and died here building the Union fort, the largest inland masonry fort constructed during the War. Historians believe many unmarked graves remain.
3. Fix the process: Mayor Barry's administration chose the for-profit developer through a closed-door process. They never considered leaving Fort Negley Park a park.
4. Find the Graves: Metro Council has already allocated funding for a Fort Negley Park Cultural Survey to locate the unmarked African American graves and explore the Park's historical significance. This survey should not be rushed in Nashville's race to convert this Park to condos.
