Lizzy Alfs

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

What was once a lunch counter at a department store that turned people away based on race is being reimagined into a restaurant and live music venue paying homage to Nashville’s civil rights history.

Tom Morales revealed details Wednesday for Woolworth on 5th, the latest in the restaurateur’s growing portfolio and a preservation project he said will restore the lunch counter that was the site of several sit-ins during the 1960s.

“This one, it’s a gem,” Morales said, referring to the former Woolworth Building at 221 5th Ave. N. “It’s history; it has to be saved.”

During an hour-long press conference, which included performances by Nashville’s own the McCrary Sisters, Morales was joined by Mayor Megan Barry, actor Barry Scott, civil rights activist King Hollands and more in recalling the history of the Woolworth Building and the role it played in the civil rights movement.

Scott kicked off the event with an impassioned performance of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. from 1954, and Barry told the story of activists, including Congressman John Lewis and Hollands, standing their ground during protests at Nashville department stores Woolworths, S. H. Kress and McClellan.

“Everything starts somewhere and for John Lewis, that very first arrest actually happened right here on this spot when he sat at that segregated lunch counter inside Woolworths on Feb. 27, 1960,” Barry said, adding that some sit-in demonstrators were attacked by hecklers that day.

The three-story, 30,000-square-foot building — which was built in 1930 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — most recently was occupied by Dollar General until Fresh Hospitality purchased the site for $3.4 million in late 2015.

Today the building has been mostly gutted and Morales’ goal is to restore it to resemble the former Woolworths and the lunch counter.

Morales and partners are targeting a late 2017 opening for Woolworth on 5th, which will serve soul food in addition to hosting plays and live music different from what’s already available downtown, including ‘50s and ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll and soul music.

“It’s where Nashville goes to get its funk,” Morales said.

Songwriter, cookbook author and Vanderbilt professor Alice Randall, who’s consulting with Morales on the project, said Woolworth on 5th will preserve and evolve African American foodways. In describing the restaurant, she cited lyrics from a centuries-old song that proclaimed, “I’m gonna eat off the welcome table some of these days.”

“A welcome table has never been more needed and Nashville leads that charge in so many ways,” Alice Randall said. “One of the ways it will lead is by integrating food, music and powerful conversation that will come together here and now in this place as a celebration of black history, black identity and more importantly…how African all Americans are.”

Alice Randall’s daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, also a professor, author and activist, said Woolworth on 5th will shine a light on southern specialties: food and music.

“I will come to Woolworth not just to honor the hard parts of the past, but to revive and revel in the best parts of the past — the old school soul flavors, the old school soul sounds. It is about time there was a place in downtown Nashville where you could get down downtown and boogie instead of boot scoot, if you will,” Caroline Randall Williams said.

A Nashville native and vocal proponent of preserving what he called “Old Nashville,” Morales said it’s his responsibility to protect Nashville’s history in his restaurant concepts.

Morales was a pioneer in the effort to revitalize Nashville’s now-booming downtown, buying real estate at a time when pawn shops and adult stores still dotted the streets. His efforts date back to the 1990s, before investors from all over the world were looking at Music City.

He’s known for his preservation work, particularly at the century-old Acme Feed & Seed building downtown, where he and partners invested millions to transform the long vacant site into a popular multi-story restaurant, bar and live music venue.

Morales is the founder of TomKats, a 30-year-old catering company that has catered more than 2,000 productions across the globe. His restaurant portfolio includes Saffire Restaurant & Bar in Franklin, Loveless Café (which he purchased with partners in 2003 and then revamped), The Southern Steak & Oyster on Third Avenue South, Acme Feed & Seed and Fin & Pearl.

Tom Morales' restaurant timeline

2002: Morales opens Saffire Restaurant & Bar at The Factory at Franklin.

2003: Morales and partners purchase the Loveless Cafe and close the iconic restaurant for a revamp.

2004: Loveless Cafe reopens doors after renovation.

2012: The Southern Steak & Oyster opens in downtown Nashville.

2014: Acme Feed & Seed opens on Lower Broadway after extensive renovations to preserve the historic building.

2015: Morales opens Southernaire Market, a downtown grocery store, deli and butcher.

2016: Fin & Pearl seafood restaurant opens in the Gulch.

2016: Morales’ reveals plans to open a restaurant and entertainment concept at the Fifth + Broadway mixed-use development planned for the Nashville Convention Center site.

2017: Morales’ unveils the Woolworth on 5th project.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.