RCA Studio A will not go down without a fight.
Country singer Jamey Johnson joined in the group of musicians and activists protesting the probably demolition of one of Nashville's most legendary landmarks once tenants are officially evicted at the end of November.
"It's a matter of prayer and faith," Johnson told the Nashville Scene. "And it's also a matter of getting the community organized. Nashville's music fan club — and I'm talking about all music, not just country music, but all music — Nashville's music fan club needs to come together and organize and get a clear plan. Once we have a clear plan of action, it's gonna be easy to walk through the steps and save this building.
"We know fundamentally we're correct, and that we should preserve this building. And if it's up to us in this building to do that, then it's our role and it's our mission. I don't intend on just pulling up and walking away. I intend on sticking it out all the way until November the 30th, until the last possible second. There's always an opportunity. I don't put anything above God."
One of the current tenants, Ben Folds, has 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."
