The alt-weekly The Nashville Scene first reported last week that the United Record Pressing plant, a mainstay of vinyl production since 1949, would be expanding its operations to a new 142,000-square-foot facility in South Nashville. In a later article by Billboard, United said that the new facility, estimated to be the size of “two football fields,” would double the plant’s production capacity, and that the expansion would help the country’s largest vinyl manufacturer keep pace with strong market demand. According to a 2015 report from Nashville Public Radio, United produces up to 40,000 records a day, and United’s head of marketing is quoted in the piece as saying the plant accounts for 30 to 40 percent of all vinyl records available in stores.

Tucked away in the quiet neighborhood of Wedgewood-Houston, United Record Pressing has made records by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Michael Jackson, John Coltrane, Taylor Swift and the Beatles, whose first American single, “Please Please Me,” was pressed there. Moreover, during an era of deep racial hostility in the South, the plant’s second-floor “Motown Suite” once provided a respite for African-American music executives and performers who were denied hotel rooms.

Acknowledging fears that the plant on Chestnut Street would be repurposed or torn down, United made clear on social media in recent days that the company is committed to preserving the location in a way that honors its “important place in musical history.”