The Nashville Fairgrounds, also known as The Fairgrounds Nashville and the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, is an entertainment complex in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The 117-acre (47 ha) site is located southeast of Downtown Nashville on the Nolensville Pike. The historic home of the Tennessee State Fair, today the complex is home to Geodis Park, home of Nashville SC of Major League Soccer, Fairgrounds Speedway, the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena, the Nashville Flea Market, and The Nashville Fair. The site is undergoing redevelopment into a mixed-use development spurred by the construction of the soccer stadium with commercial and residential use and a community park. Additionally, there is a plan to renovate and upgrade Fairgrounds Speedway to host NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series events in conjunction with Speedway Motorsports.[1]

History

The fairgrounds originally opened in 1891 as a horse racing track named Cumberland Park.[2] The park became the home of the Tennessee State Fair in 1906 and was purchased by the Davidson County government (later Metro) in 1910.[3] At that state fair, on June 22, 1910, attendees witnessed the first night-time airplane flight. The plane was equipped with automobile headlights.[2]

On September 20, 1965, a fire on the opening night of the fair destroyed four buildings and caused $10 million in damage.[4][5]

The fairgrounds were re-branded as The Fairgrounds Nashville in 2015, in an attempt to lure more events.[6]

Sports Arena

The Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena is on the grounds of the Nashville Fairgrounds. It is also known by the nickname the TNA Asylum due to the venue hosting Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling) events for two years in the early 2000s.

The building was constructed in 1922, by workers from South Dakota. The building was originally a flea market. It was operated throughout the 1960s and 1970s by promoter Nick Gulas as a professional wrestling venue.

After taping their initial shows in the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama, then moving their next few to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, TNA moved their weekly pay-per-view events to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena in July 2002. The name "TNA Asylum" was first used during the ninth weekly pay-per-view by Ron Killings. The Asylum also served as the home of TNA Xplosion, TNA's weekly syndicated television show, from its inception until October 2004.

After debuting TNA Impact!, which was taped at Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios Florida, TNA decided that they would eventually shut down their weekly pay-per-view operations in favor of switching to a monthly pay-per-view format. Shortly after, they held their final weekly pay-per-view event (on September 8, 2004) before permanently departing from the Asylum in favor of running their shows exclusively out of Universal Soundstage 21.

Showtime All-Star Wrestling used the arena a couple times during the year of 2009, filming some of their television episodes at the Sports Arena.

On October 6, 2009 it was announced that the Nashville Mayor Karl Dean would be closing down the Tennessee State Fairgrounds at the end of June 2010.[7]

On November 12, 2010, TNA Wrestling returned to the Asylum for a one last live event, headlined by Jeff Hardy defending the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against D'Angelo Dinero, before the proposed demolition of the building.[8] However, on January 18, 2011, the Nashville City Council voted to keep the arena open through 2012.[9] The vote on a referendum issue on the ballot for the August 2011 Metro Nashville-Davidson County election made it much harder legally for the municipality either to dispose of or severely alter the operation of the Fairgrounds, and most of the facilities there remain in at least limited operation as of 2015.

On January 29, 2011, there was a "Tribute to the Fairgrounds" pro wrestling event, highlighting many of the Memphis-area wrestling legends who helped make the arena famous, with the main event being Jerry "The King" Lawler vs "Superstar" Bill Dundee in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,700.

Beginning in 2012, Crossfire Entertainment used the Sports Arena for their live events. They hosted "Tribute to the Fairgrounds" events before the proposed demolition, but later used it as a primary location for their shows. On August 4, 2012, Crossfire Wrestling announced TV production would return to the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena, thanks to Paramount Pictures, as they were to be hosting HD/3D TV Tapings there. To add on to this, Crossfire was to be the first professional wrestling organization to be shot in 3D. On February 17, 2013, Crossfire Wrestling announced that they had to cease operations, leaving the venue empty for the time being.[10]

On September 6, 2013, TCW Wrestling's "Tennessee Takeover" was held at the Sports Arena, which was the first event held in the arena since January 2013. On June 22, 2014, the first-ever live televised pay-per-view for Ring of Honor, Best in the World 2014, was held at the venue.

On October 21, 2018, the National Wrestling Alliance held its 70th-anniversary show in the building. Impact Wrestling returned to The Asylum on January 6, 2019 with a PPV event called Homecoming.[11]

Impact Wrestling again returned to The Asylum on June 19, 2022, to celebrate 20 years of Slammiversary. Jordynne Grace won the first ever Queen of the Mountain match to become Impact Knockouts World Champion for the second time in her career.

The venue hosted the Starrcast wrestling convention in July 2022.[12]

Redevelopment

In 2009, Mayor Karl Dean announced the Metro government's intention to redevelop the fairgrounds into a mixed-use neighborhood, displacing the state fair amid financial struggles.[13] Opposition to the closure prompted a citywide referendum in August 2011 that would amend the Metro charter to continue existing activities at the fairgrounds site. The amendment was passed by over 70 percent of voters.[14][15]

In 2016, mayor Megan Barry proposed demolishing several buildings on the fairgrounds to make way for community parks and soccer fields. The plan, which also included a new soccer stadium for the new Nashville SC, was accused of displacing the fair[16][17] although Metro Nashville maintains that there would still be adequate space for the fair.[18] However, after not hosting the fair in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced in May 2021 that the fair would be moved to the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Tennessee, and held in conjunction with the Wilson County Fair in mid-August, earlier than the traditional September date.[19]

References

  1. ^ Morris, Chuck. "Mayor Cooper, Bristol Motor Speedway reach deal to renovate Fairgrounds race track". WSMV Nashville. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  2. ^ a b Thompson, E.D. (2004). More Nashville nostalgia. Nashville: Westview Pub. p. 5. ISBN 0-9755646-7-6. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "Tennessee State Fairgrounds Master Plan – Phase 1" (PDF). Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. February 18, 2013. p. 3. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  4. ^ Bliss, Jessica (September 11, 2015). "TN State Fair survived epic fire in 1965". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Fire Sweeps Fairgrounds; 18 Injured, Loss $10 Million". The Nashville Tennessean. September 21, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved December 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  6. ^ Garrison, Joey (March 23, 2015). "Tennessee State Fairgrounds re-brands with new name". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Mayor's statement puts an end to State Fair". The City Paper. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
  8. ^ Goodman, Larry (2010-11-13). "TNA house show report 11-12 Nashville". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  9. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (2011-01-23). "Former TNA Asylum to Be Kept Open". 411Mania. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  10. ^ "Crossfire Wrestling Gone". PWInsider.com. 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  11. ^ "IMPACT Wrestling Announces 'Homecoming' PPV For January 6th In Nashville, Tennessee – Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Starrcast 2022: Time, Channel and How to Watch Ric Flair's Last Match".
  13. ^ Cass, Michael (September 19, 2009). "Fair's future in air as Metro bails out". The Tennessean. p. 11A. Retrieved December 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  14. ^ Garrison, Joey (August 4, 2011). "Fairgrounds referendum rolls". The City Paper. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "Fairgrounds referendum draws voters in Nashville". WSMV. Associated Press. August 4, 2011. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  16. ^ Garrison, Joey (August 9, 2016). "Mayor's office unveils $15M plan to upgrade Nashville fairgrounds". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  17. ^ Garrison, Joey (June 28, 2017). "After more than 100 years, Tennessee State Fair might leave Nashville's fairgrounds". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  18. ^ WVLT. "Tennessee State Fair looking for a new home". www.wvlt.tv. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  19. ^ "Tennessee State Fair Debuts New 2021 Location".

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