Dean pushes riverfront's development

Mayor Karl Dean has asked the Metro Development and Housing Agency to oversee redevelopment of Nashville's downtown riverfront and will include redevelopment funding in his capital spending plan, he plans to announce today. "The Cumberland River should be a focal point of our city," Dean said in a news release. The city's riverfront plan, which a consultant completed more than 18 months ago, includes parks and play spaces, greenways, boardwalks, piers, a public fountain at the end of Broadway and an "urban forest" of trees in some of LP Field's parking lots. The plan also envisions private development along the Cumberland. Ed Owens, a principal in charge of planning and urban design at Gresham Smith and Partners for the past 10 years, will be MDHA's waterfront redevelopment director. Chris Koster, who directs riverfront development for Metro Parks, will continue to lead the Parks projects. — MICHAEL CASS (Tennessean)