NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Four years ago, a Nashville resident set off a bomb in a recreational vehicle along Second Avenue on Christmas morning. The impact led to the suspect’s death, hundreds being displaced from their homes, businesses shuttered and historic buildings heavily damaged.
A major rebuild is underway in the area. Just this month, another portion of the street opened to traffic. News 2 went down to Second Avenue to check on the progress.
Heather Dallenbach is the manager of Nashville Souvenirs on Second Avenue in downtown Nashville. She also managed the previous business in the location at the time of the Christmas Day bombing in 2020.
“I walked down the back alley, and this building did not have a back wall. It was really crazy. I was like, we’re in for a bit of a renovation here,” Dallenbach recalled.
Nearly everything was gutted and replaced.
“All of the walls are new. All of the ceilings are new. Everything downstairs has been completely redone. All new windows, all new back wall, like a whole bunch of everything redone,” Dallenbach said.
Sixty-five buildings, many of which date back to the 1800s, were damaged in the bombing, and now the rebuilding is closer to being done.
“That’s actually where the outdoor dining is going to be and then this is the unobstructed pedestrian pathway,” pointed out Michelle Scopel, senior project manager for the Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority.
Both of those are new, highly-requested additions to Second Avenue with the goal of attracting more local residents.
“Downtown is thriving with tourism, but having something for locals to come to, maybe with your family, for lunches, for happy hours with your friends, whatnot, there’s just a lot of need for that,” Scopel said. “Of course, the tourists are going to benefit from that, too.”
MDHA is leading the city’s nearly $39.5 million rebuild of the streetscape that started in May of 2023.
“The buildings are all privately owned, so any work for that they had to do for rebuilding is really up to them to do that,” Scopel explained. “You can still see a scattering of buildings that have not rebuilt. There’s a lot of reasons for that, and insurance is a big piece of it.”
The businesses that did rebuild have been open to customers during construction. As far as the street restoration, the north block, closest to the Metro courthouse, opened to vehicle traffic in June.
“That was a huge celebration, and honestly, that was really the first time we were able to celebrate anything on Second Avenue since the blast,” Scopel said. “The entire street really was able to smile, which was wonderful.”
The south block, between Commerce Street and Broadway, just reopened December 20, ahead of schedule. The final block, in the middle of 2nd Avenue, between Commerce and Church Streets is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
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“Prior to the blast, there were a lot of vacant buildings and a lot of it wasn’t quite what it was in the heyday. I think actually this project, the way that we’re rebuilding, the way we’ve worked with all of the businesses here and with their vision and how they can utilize it, I think what we’re going to be putting back is so much better than what was here,” Scopel said. “I’m really excited to see 2nd Avenue thriving again.”
And so are the businesses.
“This is such a just a historic and important area to downtown that it’s going to be beautiful to see it just reopen and be reinvigorated,” Dallenbach said. “I know the city’s kind of got the focus to push more people down here and bring that back to the businesses down here, which we’re just really looking forward to.”
