Flashback Friday: Church Street Center

I had a little inspiration this week and thought I'd start a new feature on my blog called "Flashback Friday." Let me know what you think and if you have any memories of what I write about.

A couple of months ago, I was talking with my co-worker and realized that since he has only lived in Nashville since 2007, there are some places that used to be here that aren't and there some places that he currently knows that were formerly known as something else. Have I confused you yet? Well, I'll get started with my first flashback and hopefully you'll see what I'm talking about.

Back in the early 1990s when I was working at the Baptist Sunday School Board (now known as Lifeway, and no, that's not the flashback), my friends and I would often walk a couple of blocks up to a little mall called Church Street Center. There were the usual mall stores, like The Limited and Bath & Body Works, along with shoe stores, etc. It also connected to a department store that still had a presence in the downtown area, Castner-Knott (again, that could be a flashback of its own).

This mall also had a food court with several options of cuisine to choose from and lots of table scattered around. Often, I'd still bring my lunch, but would enjoy getting out of the office and spending time with my friends. It's safe to say we ventured up there at least three times a week. It definitely was a better option than eating in the cafeteria at the BSSB.

I'm not sure how many years the mall stayed open, but eventually, it wasn't doing enough business (I think maybe after Castner-Knott closed the downtown store) and it closed. By then, I was a stay-at-home mommy and didn't get a chance to go eat lunch there anymore. For me and my "twenty-something" group of friends, it was fun while it lasted!

And if you're wondering the exact location of the Church Street Center, you can go by the downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library and see it for yourself. I hate that the mall had to go bankrupt, but I really love how the city of Nashville took lemons and made lemonade by building the library in that location.