I haven't played along at home on the Thursday Three in a while, but for once I actually have a bit of time.

1. In your own hometown, what is the best public building?

Of course this depends upon what I want to choose as my hometown. The city in which my parents still live, or the city in which I live now. First, my childhood hometown. My two favorite buildings: The Courthouse and the old high school (now an elementary school).

In my current hometown, there are many buildings I like. The old Customs House, the Main Library, The Parthenon, War Memorial Plaza, and The Frist Museum.

2. Again, thinking of where you live, what is the worst public building?

There are, of course, many worsts in both my old and new hometowns. I think the new high school building where my parents live, ranks right up there. As does the junior high.

Here in Nashville, there are many awful buildings downtown. Most of which I can't find pictures, but the Estes Kefauver Federal Building rivals any East German architechture for pure ugliness and Andrew Jackson Building is hideous too. I'm also not crazy about either the Country Music Hall of Fame or the GEC.

3. And finally, either in your own hometown or just in general, what do you consider the best modern public building? (For the sake of argument, let’s let “modern” mean anything done since 1962, and not necessarily tied to the Modern style. Purely arbitrary, I know.)

Hands down, bar none, I love Nashville's Main Library. They did a beautiful job down to the smallest details making it an absolutely fabulous public building. Inside and out, it looks like it has always been there and always should be.