NASHVILLE – When the Grand Ole Opry House was inundated with floodwaters in May, one of the first calls Opry lighting director Tyler Bryan made, after getting a first-hand look at the devastation while paddling a canoe, was to Chris Barbee, Bandit Lites' national director of sales and installations. Four days after the water receded, Barbee and John Jenkinson toured the facility with Bryan to evaluate the damage and mapped out a plan for the renovation with cost estimates for the work.
The planning and decision-making time frame was important, because the Opry's 85th birthday celebration – Oct. 9, 2010 – was fast approaching, and the venue needed to reopen by September 28.
Pete Fisher, the Opry's VP and GM; Debbie Ballentine, the Opry's executive director of operations, and Jon Mire, technical services manager worked together with Bryan, general contractor RC Matthews, electrical contractor Wolfe & Travis, Bandit Lites, and others to help the Opry emerge from the muck and shine once more.
A team Bandit employees, sometimes numbering 12 or more, worked with the house staff to renovate and improve the lighting systems in the facility. The stage, the lobby, the dressing rooms and the corridors all had to be renovated. Manufacturers played a supporting role as well.
The restored lighting rig for the venue now includes Vari*Lite moving lights (VL 3000 Spots, VL 2500 Spots and VLX LED fixtures), Chauvet Lighting Colorado 1s, Colorado 3s, Colorado Batten 72s, ColorDash Blocks and ColorDash Accents and an ETC Ion Console, ETC Paradigm Architectural Controls, Net 3 Network Distribution for DMX and several ETC Source 4s. Fleenor supplied five way DMX splitters, and TMB was the cable supplier for the job.
Rex England, manager of maintenance and engineering, worked with Barbee on the renovation of the first floor lobby as well. That space is now lit with Applied Electronics' Ultra Lite Box Truss and LED Lighting from Chauvet Lighting, including Colorado 1 TOURs, Colorado 1 VWs and ColorDash Accents. The fixtures are controlled from an ETC Paradigm Architectural Control System.
"This has been the most challenging task I've ever had to deal with, but with Bandit Lites beside me the whole way, I knew we were going to make it," said Bryan. Along with Barbee and Jenkinson, Bandit staffers tackling the Opry restoration included Roth Edwards, Jake Tickle, Richard Owens and Bandit president Peter Heffernan.
The Sept. 28 grand opening included a lineup of Opry members and a live broadcast on Great American Country network. Noted television LD Bob Peterson and programmer Trevor Ahlstrand joined Bryan to support the live television broadcast. Mark Carver and Steve Hoover provided design, programming and support.
Even after the grand re-opening, Bandit team continued their efforts next door at The Gaylord Opryland Resort, where they have also been hard at work since the floodwaters receded. The resort was expected to reopen on Nov. 15.
For more information, please visit www.banditlites.com.
