NASHVILLE (AP) - Metro Nashville Parks' officials say the aging Fort Nashborough historical site along the riverfront will likely be demolished this summer and rebuilt in 2016 or 2017.
The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/1yLX8eX) reports the $1 million project was originally slated to begin last year and be completed sometime this year.
Metro Parks and Recreation Director Tommy Lynch says the initiative is being folded into Mayor Karl Dean's $100 million proposal for a flood wall and protection plan.
He said work on the flood mitigation plan would delay reconstruction.
"We're going to do the demo, but as far as rebuilding it, we're going to wrap it into the (flood) project, so that it all kind of gets opened at the same time," Lynch said. He said blasting from the flood mitigation project could damage the fort if it were rebuilt right away.
"It will delay the opening at least a year," he said.
If the Metro Council approve s the flood mitigation plan, construction on it would also begin in the summer.
The Fort Nashborough site is a representation of a fort built by early settlers to Nashville and has been a destination for students in Middle Tennessee.
"It made a lot of sense to make sure these two projects were tied together, because as the flood wall project moves forward, the (entire) front of Riverfront Park will be under construction at that time," said Chris Koster, a planner at the parks department.