Studio A placed on National Register of Historic Places
RCA Studio A, the Music Row building that touched off a sweeping debate regarding the city's music landmarks and overall preservation policy, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The National Park Service's listing, which was made official July 21 and announced on Friday, gives a decisive win to activists, led by Nashville piano rocker Ben Folds, who fought to save the studio from demolition. Folds leases the building's famous studio, where an array of superstars have recorded, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert.
Sharon Corbitt-House, Folds' co-manager and senior vice president of studio operations for Studio A, said news of the recognition felt like validation. She said supporters pushed for the building to be added to the Register well before the turmoil over its future. At one point in 2014, a development team sent eviction letters to tenants and applied for a demolition permit.
“It was like a big hand had given its final blessing on the whole thing,” Corbitt-House said. “It has a big, universal blessing on it.”
The studio building was initially sold last year to a developer who planned to demolish it in favor of condos and a music-themed restaurant. But Folds turned the issue into a national story, and eventually philanthropist Aubrey Preston stepped in and bought the building. Preston was later joined by Mike Curb and Chuck Elcan in a partnership that has promised to keep the studio in operation and maintain the property as it was envisioned when Music Row icons Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley teamed up to build it.
But advocates still pushed for it to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a public list of properties worthy of preservation. In March, the building turned 50 years old, and its new owners are planning a celebration for later this year when they will roll out detailed plans about its future use.
Work to add the building to the National Register was by spearheaded by Middle Tennessee State University's director of the Center for Historic Preservation, Carroll Van West, who said the recognition has implications beyond the Studio A complex.
"The National Park Service's final approval and listing of RCA Victor Studios to the National Register of Historic Places is a very important step forward not only for the future of that iconic building, where so much music and music industry history were made, but now it is an anchor for the preservation of other Music Row landmarks and keeping Nashville's creative heart together for decades to come," Van West said.
Preston said he envisions Studio A becoming a gathering place for the city's creative class.
"As partners Chuck, Mike and I are extremely grateful for Dr. Carroll Van West's leadership in getting the Studio A property listed on the National Register of Historic Places in record time," Preston said in a statement. "We also want to thank Patrick McIntyre at the Tennessee Historic Commission for his help in expediting what is usually a multi year process. We're looking forward to opening the Studio A doors to the public on October 3 in celebration of 50 years on Music Row and the first year of its rebirth."
In addition to impassioned debate about its own future, Studio A also touched off a broader discussion about how the city should maintain and preserve its musical landmarks. The Planning Department took a pause earlier this year on Music Row developments and the issue has come up several times in the mayor's race.
Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.