Historic Nashville landmark warns it will close without property tax relief скачать в хорошем качестве

Historic Nashville landmark warns it will close without property tax relief

The shockwaves from historic property tax hikes in Nashville are no longer abstract. They are now threatening to erase some of the city’s most beloved and authentic landmarks. One of the men most responsible for preserving Nashville’s past says he may be forced to walk away from it — unless City Hall intervenes. You may not know the name Tom Morales, but you almost certainly know what he saved. Morales helped preserve the Loveless Cafe, the historic Woolworth building and the iconic Acme Feed and Seed on Lower Broadway. Now, he says Acme — one of the last true anchors of old Nashville — is on the brink of closing because of a staggering property tax increase. The original Acme Feed and Seed operated downtown for 56 years before closing in 1999. When Morales saw the building sitting vacant for more than a decade, he decided to bring it back — not as a theme park version of Nashville, but as the real thing. “My heart was to save the Acme building, which is a postcard of what Nashville once was,” Morales said. “When I saw it had been closed for 15 years, I asked, ‘How can we make it viable? How can we save this unique architecture?’ I was leading with my heart.” Morales has led with his heart before — and Nashville benefited. When the Loveless Cafe faced demolition to make way for a strip mall, Morales rallied investors and saved what is now one of the most revered restaurants in Tennessee. He helped preserve the historic Woolworth lunch counter. But now, he says Acme is facing a threat unlike anything before. “It’s our property tax,” Morales said. “It went from $129,000 a year to $600,000 a year. That’s more than our rent and net profit combined.” A nearly half-million-dollar increase in a single year. “We can’t pay it,” Morales said. “It’s punitive.” This is not a business owner exaggerating. It is a preservationist raising a white flag. Tourists FOX 17 News spoke with say Acme is exactly what they come to Nashville to experience — authentic music, real musicians and a sense of history that can’t be manufactured. “It felt real,” one visitor said. “World-class musicians playing in a place where you don’t expect it — that’s what Nashville is supposed to be.” Acme doesn’t book cover bands. It features original music — artists chasing the same dream that once defined Music City. Morales says that authenticity is disappearing fast. “The way we survive as a city is embracing what is authentic,” he said. “Tourists see through make-believe. They see a $17 drink and think ‘tourist trap.’ There are towns across America that wish they were Music City — and we're trying to be Las Vegas. Why?” Morales says he asked Mayor Freddie O’Connell for a meeting to discuss possible relief. He says the mayor did not respond. FOX 17 News asked the mayor directly whether the city would step in. “It’s not up to me whether he keeps that business open,” Mayor O’Connell said. “The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close.” In other words — it’s just business. But Morales says this isn’t about profit. It’s about preserving the soul of Nashville. “I’ve spent 40 years doing something for this city,” he said. “And I can’t even get a meeting.” Morales has filed a formal appeal of the tax assessment. That hearing is scheduled for a year from now. He says Acme won’t make it that long. Where does this end? Currently, there is no end in sight — only survival of the richest, not the most important. There may still be hope, if not from City Hall, then from other forces now quietly working behind the scenes. fox17.com/fox-17-investigates/historic-nashville-landmark-acme-feed-and-seed-warns-it-will-close-without-property-tax-relief-broadway-business-tennessee-dennis-ferrier _______________ Follow! Like! Share! Subscribe! WZTV on Facebook:   / foxnashville   WZTV on X:   / foxnashville   https://fox17.com Email us: news@fox17.com Call the Newsroom: 615.369.1717 Fox 17 provides local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment for Nashville and nearby towns and communities in Middle Tennessee, including Forest Hills, Brentwood, Franklin, Fairview, Dickson, Clarksville, White House, Greenbrier, Springfield, Gallatin, Hartsville, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Smyrna, College Grove, Thompson’s Station, Centerville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lewisburg, Shelbyville, Manchester, McMinnville, Smithville, Sparta, Cookeville, Hohenwald, Waverly, Camden, Paris, Lafayette, Portland, and in Kentucky, Russelville, Bowling Green, Franklin, Alvaton, Scottsville, Hopkinsville, Glasgow. #WZTV #fox17news #foxnashville #nashville #tennessee #tn #middletn #localnews #breakingnews #trending #propertytaxes #propertytax