Nashville is finally kicking off a long-planned makeover at Fort Negley, with a short on-site celebration this Thursday (Feb. 19) to mark the start of phase one. The opening phase of work is designed to restore the Civil War-era fort and stitch the surrounding parkland back together with new green space, while also improving access and expanding how the site's history is told.
The phase-one celebration is set for Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon at the Fort Negley Visitors Center. Mayor Freddie O’Connell is expected to deliver remarks at the event, according to WKRN.
Metro Parks' project page notes that the first major phase of construction is scheduled to begin in February 2026. That work will remove pavement from the former Greer Stadium parking lots and seed the area with native meadow grasses. Plans also call for restoring the 1930s driveways on Fort Negley Boulevard, shifting the primary visitor entrance to Chestnut Street, and improving accessibility and visitor experiences throughout the park, per Metro Nashville.
Design: Meadow, Memorial Lawn and a New Front Door
Early design images show the former Greer Stadium footprint transformed into a two-acre memorial lawn, framed by meadows, curving paths and overlooks that lead visitors back to the center. The Cultural Landscape Foundation has detailed the roughly $50 million rehabilitation and how the landscape itself is being used as an interpretive layer to highlight the stories of the people who built and shaped the site.
Years of Community Input Behind the Blueprint
The master plan is the product of a lengthy public process that involved more than 175 participants, over 1,175 comments and more than 20 stakeholder meetings. WSMV reported that the plan was finalized in 2022 following that outreach.
Funding, Timeline and What Neighbors Can Expect
Civic coverage of the project notes that Metro Council has allocated roughly $17 million to implement phase one, with additional funds set aside for stonework rehabilitation and land acquisition, while nonprofit partners helped secure more acreage around the site. Preservation advocates describe the rollout as a major preservation win that blends landscape restoration with expanded historical interpretation, according to the American Battlefield Trust.
For now, Fort Negley remains open for daylight visits, and the visitors center continues to operate on its regular schedule. The center is located at 1100 Fort Negley Blvd, with visitor details available on Metro's Fort Negley page. Officials say construction will be phased so that parts of the park stay accessible even as crews begin work this month.
