Downtown Nashville's Small Public Spaces: Courthouse Square Construction Pictures

As part of Enclave's on-going series of small public spaces in Downtown Nashville (past articles here and here and here and here), I am posting pictures of the construction of the Public Square in front of the Courthouse, itself undergoing renovation. The first picture was taken by Nashville Charrette administrator, bzorch, and posted on the Charrette over the weekend. I took the rest of the photos myself a few weeks ago.

You should be able to see from the pictures that this square will be one of the prominent public spaces in Downtown once it is finished. As such it will suit the need that Downtown has for more public green space for lunching and otherwise chilling out. While unfinished, it seems that it is going to possess a number of the qualities that small public spaces have, including direct or indirect sunlight, lots of places to sit (both conventional benches and scores of stairs for impromptu seating), open entry to and from the surrounding streets and sidewalks for people-watching, and steel tables and chairs (located at the top of the distant stairs in the third picture; although they do not look like they can be moved, which would have been another strong attractor). Currently, the square is wide-open and it is hard to tell without all of the foliage in whether there will be "edges" that allow a place for those who prefer to be away from the crowd.

[photo credit: bzorch, Nashville Charrette]