The future of Nashville's RCA Studio A took another hit on Tuesday when current tenants were told they would be evicted on Dec. 1.
One of those tenants, Ben Folds, had already announced that he would be leaving before that date thanks to rising rent costs. But for most of the summer, Folds had attempted to fight off new owner Bravo Developments' alleged plan to destroy the building.
"Once again, the owner has done an about face on what he pledged to do a few weeks back, even while he was seeking new leases from existing tenants in the building," Folds' publicist Mike Kopp told The Tennessean. "To most anyone who has been trying to follow his curious actions of late none of this comes as any surprise."
Bravo owner Tim Reynolds was defensive, and pointed to reports that he was going to assess the property as evidence that evictions could be coming.
"I released those reports to the public several weeks ago so they could understand the situation better," Reynolds said. "It is based on these reports that I must make my decisions about this building moving forward. I have kept my tenants informed of the process and have been very open with them about what the future might hold."
So tenants got the following message:
"The decision to terminate all tenancies has not been an easy decision for (Bravo Development) to make, but is necessary given the poor state of the building," Bravo said. "(Bravo Development) is providing this notice to you as early as possible so that you can make appropriate arrangements."
There could still be a ray of hope, however. Songwriter Terry Bruce informed The Tennessean that he would be making a push to save Studio A before its demolition.
"I'm representing a still-forming grassroots coalition of concerned citizens, music makers, business owners and other parties whose goal is to Save Studio A, a piece of international music history that we don't want to see smashed by a wrecking ball," Bruce said. "We have early indications that the building may not be in as bad of shape as some are saying, and we want to ensure that all options to salvage this legendary studio are heard and respected."
