As Nashville works to determine if any of the buildings damaged in the Christmas morning bombing are salvageable, at least 400 people are without homes and 1,200 are jobless.
Structural assessments of more than 40 buildings in the blast area determined that at least two are irreparable and must be demolished. In all, 10 buildings on the historic Second Avenue were deemed unsafe, including seven that are closed off, meaning no entry is allowed. Some business owners still haven’t been able to get inside to assess the damage.
Donations have poured in for the victims, and a $2 million grant was pushed through to help families and businesses with food and bills.
Among the assistance was an electric guitar sent by country superstar Brad Paisley to a musician whose home — and all of his instruments — was lost in the blast.
Paisley reached out to guitarist Buck McCoy via social media.
“I went to my Instagram, and there was a message, and I was like this must be some kind of prank,” McCoy told ABC affiliate WKRN. “You know, one of my funny buddies saying ‘let’s cheer Buck up.’ No, it was actually him, and he wanted to talk to me and he said, ‘I want to hook you up with a guitar so you can get back to work and make a living.’”
The pair spoke for 30 minutes, leaving McCoy with the impression the Grammy winner made contact out of the kindness of his heart.
Investigators say the bomb was planted in an RV by 63-year-old loner Anthony Warner, who died in the explosion. Local TV station News Channel 5 revealed Saturday he had sent packages to several people he knew in the days before the attack. At least one package contained a rambling nine-page letter detailing various conspiracies he believed, including the comment “The moon landing and 9/11 have so many anomalies they are hard to count.”
The blast impacted at least 45 small businesses. Many owners are hoping to rebuild and remain in the historic downtown neighborhood.
“We’re going to have to look very closely at the cost of that and is it even going to be viable for us to pursue something like that?” Benjamin Jordan told WKRN.
Jordan not only managed a liquor store damaged in the blast, but also lived in one of the apartment buildings hit when the bomb exploded. “At some point, it’s about dollars and cents, and if it doesn’t make sense for us, unfortunately, and I hope this isn’t the case, but we may just have to walk away.”
With Post wires