Opened in 1965, the Carnegie Main Library building, later known as the Ben West Library, was a rare Midcentury Modern gem in downtown Nashville. It fell into disuse by the turn of the 21st century when, in 2001, a much larger Neoclassical structure, designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects and located a couple of blocks away, replaced it. Mainly abandoned since then, apart from a brief period when it housed the mayor’s offices and city council members’, the former library, unlike other buildings of its era in the city, narrowly escaped the wrecking ball. A landmark designation in 2015 saved the 42,000-square-foot modernist marble pile—for which its architect, Bruce Crabtree of the once-prominent local firm Taylor & Crabtree, had held particular affection. But a cumbersome ownership arrangement of the ¾-acre property, involving both the city and private entities, as well as its new historic status—which scared away developers but attracted creative enterprises and nonprofits that couldn’t afford it—complicated its sale for years.
In an ironic turn of events, Hastings Architecture, which had advised a potential buyer early on, ended up purchasing the building in 2017 for $4 million. “At one point, we were looking at it and I laughed, ‘This would be a great building for us,’ ” recalls Dave Powell, who, along with his partners David Bailey and William Hastings, made the surprising decision to move their design firm (now 85 people) into the rescued real estate, which is set among several government buildings, including the SOM-designed Tennessee Tower (1970) across the street.
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