CSDG

Ascend Amphitheater & West Riverfront Park | Nashville, TN

A defining project of ours over the past 25 years, West Riverfront Park and Ascend Amphitheater have reshaped how people experience Nashville’s downtown riverfront.

Transformed from a former thermal plant site, the 11-acre park and entertainment venue features a 6,000+ seat amphitheater, multi-use greenway trails, event lawns, ornamental gardens, active and passive recreation areas, redevelopment along 1st Avenue, and Nashville’s first downtown dog park.

We provided early planning and full site design and civil engineering services, helping shape an award-winning, LEED Gold-certified destination that reflects our mission to design people-centered spaces where real life happens.

Check out the project with the link in our bio.

Over the past two weeks, we welcomed five seniors to our Chattanooga office for a hands-on externship focused on Watkins Street Park and the Ridgedale neighborhood. Through site visits, community conversations, sketching, mapping, and problem-solving, students gained a real-world look at how public spaces are planned, designed, and brought to life.

Their curiosity and willingness to engage with the neighborhood’s challenges and opportunities made this experience especially meaningful for our team. It is a reminder of how early exposure to landscape architecture and community-centered design can shape future career paths and excite students.

We’re grateful to McCallie for continuing to invest in experiential learning and thank everyone who shared their time and expertise to help make this studio possible.

👉 Read the full story with the link in our bio to see what the students explored, learned, and designed as they experienced what it means to design experiences and shape places.

A big thank you to our partners:

As we close out the year and reflect on celebrating together at our annual team Christmas party, we’re so grateful for the clients and partners who made it another meaningful one. The work we do together, and the people behind it, are what make CSDG what it is.

As we head into 2026, our 25th anniversary year, we’re excited for what’s ahead and for the opportunity to continue designing experiences and shaping places together.

Cheers and happy holidays,
The CSDG Team