| Belmont moves forward with Rose Park plans: |
Dr. Fisher speaks out on plans, controversy Belmont University president Bob Fisher expressed his excitement and relief that the Rose Park sports complex project can begin in the summer of 2008. He said the construction of the sports complex, expected to cost almost $7 million, will begin once the surrounding schools adjourn for the summer. He is optimistic about the future the park holds, for both Belmont and the Edgehill community that it has served as one of the city’s Metro Parks. “The fields are underutilized and are in need of improvement,” he said, so according to his plans, the partnership would benefit both parties. Also, Fisher wants the new facility “to be a shared place of recreation and interaction for everyone.” He hopes Belmont baseball can “utilize the fields by January of 2009, while still allowing the residents to use the field for a majority of the year.” |
Edgehill wary of revitalization, renewal Ronnie Miller used to walk to the drugstore to get ice cream. As a kid, he didn’t have to leave the neighborhood to shop for clothes and shoes or to get a haircut like he does now. The stores were right around the corner. Miller, now 50, grew up in Edgehill, a Nashville residential area now bordered by Belmont University, Music Row, the Gulch, Interstates 40 and 65, and home to E. S. Rose Park. In the 1950s, black-owned businesses lined 12th Avenue and South Street: hardware stores, bakeries, butchers and grocery stores. But things have changed — few of those businesses remain. “I guess the oldest business that’s around here where blacks go would be the Patton’s Funeral Home,” Miller said. |
