For six decades, the Knights of Columbus hall in Donelson, tucked into a corner beside the Nashville International Airport, was a center of community activity, with dinners, meetings, parochial league football games, bingo, a swimming pool, and more.
The Bishop Richard Pius Miles Council 4972 and the Msgr. Albert A. Seiner Fourth Degree Assembly 1627 hope their new home, the Bishop Richard Pius Miles Hall on McGavock Pike, will serve the community just as long.
Not only will the facility be home to the typical council activities, such as Lenten fish fries and council meetings, the Knights hope to rent out the facility for other events such as weddings and receptions, anniversary parties, class reunions, meetings and even wakes, said Mike O’Connor, a member of Council 4972 and the board of directors for South Nashville KC Club Inc.
“We think it’s ideal for weddings and receptions,” O’Connor said.
The hall, at 20,000 square feet, is about twice the size of the old facility, said Jody Sanders, a former member of the South Nashville KC Club board of directors and a former Grand Knight of Council 4972.
After the renovations, the building now includes: the Blessed Michael McGivney Chapel, named after the founder of the Knights of Columbus, which can seat 250 people; a banquet room with a capacity of 200 people; the council chambers; several meeting rooms; a bride’s room with a makeup counter and mirrors; a groom’s room; a game room; and a prep kitchen.
The hall also has about 110 parking spaces, and its location at 3129 McGavock Pike across the street from Two Rivers Mansion makes it easily accessible to Briley Parkway, Lebanon Road and the Airport, O’Connor said.
A wedding rehearsal dinner is scheduled for January, O’Connor said. “That’s the first event that is not council related” at the new hall.
The Knights hope event rentals will help raise money to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the building, said Stephen Watson, another member of the Club board and a former Grand Knight of the council.
Just as the smart businessmen who established South Nashville KC Club in the early 1960s, such as Louis McRedmond, Robert Baltz, John Osborne, John A. Hobbs and others, laid the foundation for decades of success, the current board members want to do the same for future generations, Watson said.
For more information about rentals, email kc4972club@gmail.com.
The Knights have already been using the new hall for council activities, such as Breakfast with Santa, and are hoping to bring back the fish fries on the Fridays during Lent, which will include Mass in the new Blessed Michael McGivney Chapel.
The move to the new hall came in late 2020 after the Club sold the old hall, located at 2300 Knights of Columbus Blvd. off Briley Parkway, to a local automobile dealer.
The old club “had outlived its usefulness,” and was becoming more expensive to maintain, said Club board member Bob Schapker.
The Club purchased the former Family Worship Center and the Calvary Assembly of God building in December 2020 and began renovations a month later. The renovations took about a year to complete.
