Garth Brooks Opens His Police Substation In Downtown Nashville
(Left) Nashville Metro PD / X / (Right) Garth Brooks / Facebook
After Years Of Planning, Garth Brooks’ Police Substation Is Now Open In Downtown Nashville
Garth Brooks is preparing to officially and fully open his Friends in Low Places bar on Thursday (March 7). Along with that, Brooks has also opened a brand-new police substation, which has been years in the making.
When Brooks started building Friends In Low Places, he wanted to do something with an old alley right next to the famous Ernest Tubb Record Shop. He approached the city of Nashville and asked if he could turn the alley into a police substation.
“So, we go to the City and say, ‘Hey, look, can we do something like, give us that alley, we’ll build you a police substation.’ Because I hear that’s where they park their horses on the mounted police. That’s where the whole police thought came in,” Brooks told the press in November 2023.
At the time, Nashville police officers didn’t have a location close to downtown. Brooks hopes by building the substation, he’d give them a good home base on Broadway.
“They need their vehicles down here, so there’s a place for them and a back alley for them to pull all their vehicles in, park fully protected,” Brooks said. “And then they built a balcony for them so they can see all the way up Broadway, all the way down Broadway.”
Brooks’ brother served in law enforcement for 31 years. That also influenced his decision to build the new substation attached to his Friends In Low Places bar.
The project was also funded by Brooks’ wife and fellow country star, Trisha Yearwood.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake Says He’s “So Excited”
On Monday (March 4), Nashville Police Chief John Drake officially opened the new substation and turned on its blue “POLICE” sign for the first time.
“We try to ensure that we have enough officers down here to keep downtown safe,” Chief Drake said. He continued, “And so we created an Entertainment District Unit, and it needed a place to be able to operate, a place they could call their own and not go to Central Precinct. They could have a substation that’s all theirs.”
Chief Drake went on to share how excited he is to see Brooks’ new police substation up and running.
“And it’s just an exciting time,” he said. “It’s a historical time to see this happen. I’m just so excited.”
Hear more from Chief Drake and watch him turn on the substation’s blue POLICE sign in the video below.
