Elvis’ home-away-from-home could be razed for car wash
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As a teenager growing up in the 1950s, Steve North would look for the pink Cadillac outside a stone house on the outskirts of Nashville. If the car was there, Elvis was in the building.
Decades later, North bought the property and practiced law at the unassuming former home of Col. Tom Parker, the rough-around-the-edges manager who helped steer Elvis Presley to stardom.
Elvis’ old home-away-from-home is now on the brink of being torn down and replaced by a car wash. North has spent four years seeking a buyer who would preserve the building. In a city where real estate prices are booming, he found none willing to pay the market price while promising to keep the house intact.
It’s a recurring cultural struggle in growing Nashville, where developers have sought to demolish quaint sites of music lore to build apartments and high-rises that accommodate the 80-plus people moving to the Tennessee city each day.
“Nashville hangs its hat on the fact that it’s Music City, USA,” said Robbie Jones, a board member with Historic Nashville Inc. “And if we keep tearing down our music landmarks, how much longer can we claim to be Music City, USA with a straight face?”
In 2014, RCA Studio A was slated for demolition on Music Row, near downtown Nashville, to make way for luxury condos. Musician Ben Folds, who rented the space for 12 years, led the charge to preserve it and a philanthropist ultimately bought the studio where Elvis, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and others recorded.
Music Row has seen several music industry…