City Mythbusters

Thanks for your question.  The Mayor has pledged to identify replacement parking for the spaces at the West Avenue Lot before the project begins.  Next steps:

The City is in the process of hiring a consultant to provide a parking site analysis that will evaluate possible parking configuration, feasible number of spaces, most viable locations (based on survey responses), and other schematic site details for at least four (4) Down/Dickson Parking Options to replace the West Ave Parking lot.  The results of this analysis will be used to guide further development (next steps) of a Downtown/Dickson Parking Replacement Plan.  Implementation of that Plan will occur prior to the start of construction of the West Ave Civic Plaza space on the existing West Ave Parking Lot.

Not that I know of.  

Hi Kent.  This is an interesting question and I'm trying to track down a definitive answer.  We know there are caves under the city in various places, but the only ones I've been able to confirm are on private property, outside the downtown area. We're still seeking a definite yes or no from area geologists for the skinny on any caverns directly under downtown.  

Our Sustainability Director, Peter Nierengarten, tells me there is a large 12 x 6 drainage culvert under the West Ave Parking Lot that drains Dickson Street and the surrounding area, which could give rise to the caves-under-downtown story.  There was also once an underground bar called the Brass Monkey under Center Street at the old Mountain Inn. Some former proposed developers vowed to reopen the Brass Monkey, but that project did not materialize, though I presume it's still down there.   

Interestingly, there is one ginormous cavern, man-made, known as Zero Mountain, at the border of Johnson and Fayetteville. It is a former limestone quarry that was expanded and adapted for cold storage in 1951. The Zero Mountain cold storage company is still operating at that location. 

We think that what you're referring to is where the Tanglewood Branch creek passes under the WAC parking lot.  The creek, in its natural bed, was covered in the 1990s to provide additional parking to the entertainment district.