MONEY

Metro pushes for smaller billboard in Ryman expansion

Nate Rau
nrau@tennessean.com

The Metro Historic Zoning Commission staff is recommending approval of expansion plans for the Ryman Auditorium with one caveat: that a proposed digital billboard facing Broadway be downsized.

Ryman Hospitality will have its expansion plan for the auditorium considered at the Historic Zoning Commission meeting on Wednesday.

The company wants to add a restaurant, new lobby and multimedia history tour, plus renovated box office, restrooms and concessions area. The project, which will extend the nonhistoric portion of the building all the way to Fourth Avenue, will cost about $14 million.

Historic Zoning Commission staff filed a review of the proposal last week and recommended approval as long as the proposed 236-square-foot electronic sign is shrunk. The digital billboard will face Broadway and promote events going on at the Ryman and other affiliated properties, a company spokesman said.

The staff recommended downsizing the sign to 154 square feet. The expansion requires approval of the Historic Zoning Commission because the Ryman is located inside the Broadway historic overlay. No aspect of the project will involve the historic portion of the building, which opened in 1892. The previous Ryman renovation, which added the new section of the building including the current box office, was completed in 1994.

Ryman Hospitality spokesman Brian Abrahamson said it was too soon to comment on the proposal because the process is still ongoing.

The Historic Zoning Commission could choose to ignore the staff recommendation and approve the 236-square-foot billboard, or approve the project contingent on the company shrinking its sign.

Bobby Joslin, owner of Joslin Signs, said it was unfortunate the commission would request that the sign be downsized. The Bridgestone Arena marquee on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, for instance, is about 500 square feet, Joslin said.

“My point is it’s a shame somebody that’s been a pillar of this community and is (one of) the largest tourist destinations in downtown Nashville ... can’t decide what they want to do with their own property,” Joslin said.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.