ELM, a restored 19th-century church sitting at the corner of 5th Avenue and Elm Street, celebrated its grand opening Thursday and officially joined the lineup of downtown Nashville event venues. The former sanctuary keeps its original bones intact, with lofty ceilings and arched windows, while now sporting a performance-ready stage, a full-service bar, and backstage facilities built to handle concerts, weddings, and corporate gatherings.
The main sanctuary now features 25-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling arched windows, and a 20-foot stage with a built-in hi-fi sound system, according to ELM Nashville. The venue also includes a private dining room and gallery that seats more than 80, plus a catering prep kitchen, with layouts that can flex between seated dinners and standing receptions. On-site amenities extend to a mezzanine loft, a dedicated green room with direct stage access, and a gated parking lot that the venue lists as offering more than 75 spaces.
Design And The Team Behind The Revival
Genie Lee, a co-founder of the project, said the team started with how the building needed to work, then let the aesthetics follow. Beginning with functionality “allowed us to be intentional with the design” and resulted in a space that “reflects the character of Nashville and the building itself,” Lee told WSMV. That focus on natural light and original architecture carries through the pared-back interiors and the venue’s programming plans.
A 19th-Century Landmark Reused
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination cites 1871 as its significant year and describes the property as Nashville’s only surviving Italianate-style church, according to the National Park Service. ELM’s own branding, meanwhile, stamps the venue as “Est. 1860,” reflecting the slightly different dates that surface in historical records and in the property’s current promotion.
Preservation And Programming
The property was acquired and placed under a historic preservation easement through a partnership between GBX Group and Historic Nashville, Inc., a step GBX says will protect the building’s façade under Department of the Interior standards, according to a GBX Group press release. Local tourism listings and the venue’s press materials show that ELM is scheduling site tours and taking bookings for events ranging from intimate dinners to gatherings of several hundred, per Visit Music City.
For downtown residents and city planners, ELM lands as another adaptive reuse win, keeping a piece of Nashville’s architectural character in circulation while layering on modern amenities for both private and public events. With bookings open and tours underway, the former church is aiming to fold a preserved slice of Rutledge Hill right back into the city’s busy event calendar.
