Music City Center is getting a new face in the front office, but the old guard is not going anywhere. Longtime leader Charles Starks has appointed Anthony Lopez as the convention center’s new president, reshaping the top leadership structure Starks has overseen since 2005. Lopez will take charge of day-to-day operations while Starks focuses on the facility’s broader strategy, a shift that lands as the downtown complex juggles expansion plans and a packed event calendar.
The convention center quietly signaled the change online, updating its “Meet Our Staff” page to list Lopez as president while keeping Starks in the CEO role, according to Music City Center. The authority says the move formalizes a division of labor that separates daily operations from long-term growth and development.
Lopez Comes From Dallas Operations
Lopez arrives in Nashville with big-room experience already under his belt. He most recently led operations in Dallas as general manager of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, one of the country’s larger municipal venues. The Dallas facility’s LinkedIn page posted a farewell to Lopez this week, signaling his move out of Texas.
Industry coverage has followed Lopez through a series of major U.S. convention halls. According to Sports Destination Management, he has extensive experience overseeing large-scale events and venue operations, the kind of résumé that suggests he is comfortable running the show while the spotlight is on.
Split Aligns With Expansion Plans
Starks, who has worked at the city’s convention center since 2005, is keeping a firm grip on big-picture decisions. He will remain president and CEO while delegating day-to-day operations to Lopez, according to Music City Center. The center’s release says Starks will continue to oversee sales, finance, purchasing and communications, a division of duties reported by the Nashville Post.
This leadership shuffle is unfolding as the Convention Center Authority moves to get bigger. The group recently signed off on a $52.03 million purchase of an adjacent SoBro parcel, a step toward expansion reported by Nashville Scene. The added land is expected to help Nashville keep chasing larger national shows that might otherwise look to competing cities.
Local reporting says the center expects the new structure to sharpen operations while Starks stays focused on sales and development, positioning Music City Center to court bigger and more complex events. The Nashville Business Journal and other outlets have picked up the release announcing the leadership change, signaling that Nashville’s convention world will be watching how the new power duo settles into its roles.
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