Good morning, Nashville. As predicted, the Music City Center was given the green light by the Metro Council at last night’s meeting. The final vote tally was 29 yeas and 9 nays with Eric Crafton, Michael Craddock, Emily Evans and Mike Jameson among the nays. The next hurdle for the project will be the hotel that’s supposed to be attached to the convention center for which the city hopes to find private financing. There’s also that small matter of the still-pending lawsuit against MDHA over the shady-ish land acquisitions. Altogether, we can expect the construction to take three years to complete and it’ll look like this. The design is supposed to reflect the rolling hills of Tennessee and “could feature an enormous musical instrument that plays on the hour.”  The other exciting part is that we’ll be getting a new roundabout which will maybe mean (if we’re lucky) some more public art akin to the kind that’s in the middle of the other roundabout. We have an exciting journey ahead of us, Nashville.

• Not it! Metro’s legal department insists that the city isn’t responsible for any damages caused to downtown businesses by the 60+ water main breaks over the past few weeks because it was Mother Nature’s fault rather than a faulty infrastructure. Downtown businesses are pointing out that this is a slightly different tune from the one they were singing a few weeks ago. Some of the city’s water pipes date back to the 1800s.
• Trying to save the fairgrounds. At least one group of Nashvillians is still carrying the torch in the fight against closing the State Fairgrounds. Originally slated to close at the end of June, the mayor pushed back the closure until the end of this year even though there will be no State Fair. A public meeting will be held tonight to discuss some options.
• Bits & pieces. The Tennessee Attorney General put out a new guidebook for any folks who serve on the boards of nonprofits … We can’t tell you how excited we are for the new Sherlock’s Book Emporium & Curiosities that’s supposed to open downtown … Second Harvest is busy collecting food for shelters and food banks, and also manufacturing it … Charlie Daniels is recovering from a minor stroke he suffered yesterday.

Photo by fallingwater123.