War Memorial Building

Gathering

Learning

Preservation

Workplace

The War Memorial Building was originally constructed in 1925 to commemorate the service of men and women who gave their lives in World War I. The rectangular-shaped building and War Museum Plaza encompass a third of an entire city block and are situated just south of the Tennessee State Capitol in downtown Nashville. The overall plan dimensions of the building are approximately 400 feet by 120 feet and the building and plaza are bounded to the north by Charlotte Avenue, 7th Avenue North to the west, and Union Street to the south.

The project will involve the complete exterior and interior renovation of the building, including finishes, ADA upgrades, roofing, windows, exterior cleaning and re-waterproofing, doors, expansion and modernization of elevators, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and new fire protection systems. A major component of this project will be to disconnect the building systems from the adjacent Legislative Plaza Building.

The north wing will be completely gutted to meet the State’s programmatic needs. The former light well in the north wing will be recreated to provide natural light into interior offices. All new mechanical, plumbing, fire protection and electrical systems will be provided throughout. All elevators will be fully modernized. The north wing will be occupied by the Attorney General.

The south wing will continue to house the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in the War Memorial Auditorium, several Veterans’ organizations, and storage space for the Department of General Services & Facilities. The south wing improvements will include new mechanical and sprinkler systems; improvements to the auditorium for better handicap access, and a new ramp and loading dock. All new building systems will be provided on the ground floor for new offices and conference spaces. The existing elevator will be fully modernized. There will not be aesthetic work to the auditorium, other than areas that must be repaired as part of the building systems replacement. Existing finishes in the auditorium will need to be protected.

Centric’s team of consultants includes EOA Architects and WJE who are shepherding the restoration of the historic terra cotta and stone building envelope. After restoration, the project will have better lighting, better air quality, lower energy usage, full accessibility to all floors (unlike today when there is no wheelchair accessibility to the front doors to the auditorium, or to the upper level of the auditorium.) And finally, the original building had a light-well in the north/office wing that was filled-in in 1958. This light-well will be re-created to bring daylight back to all the original office locations.