Opryland, Nate Bargatze, Hope Eternal
Few memories are still as raw for Nashvillians as the day the front gates to the entrance of Opryland were padlocked forever. Few could believe it—why would anybody bulldoze such a place?
Opryland USA was originally built in order to finance construction of a new Grand Ole Opry facility. Over time the property expanded to include not only the concert hall but a deluxe hotel resort as well. In 1983 Gaylord Broadcasting, a major TV corporation, bought Opryland's parent company and went public in 1991 as the Gaylord Entertainment Company. Not long afterward there was a change in CEOs, and Terry London took everything in a different direction. By 1997 he had completed a deal with the Mills Corporation to convert the park property into a giant shopping mall. Presumably the idea was that a mall would attract up to 17 million wallets a year, a far cry from the park's peak attendance of 2.5 million in the 80s. The park was seasonal, leaving the facility unused (and therefore not financially productive) much of the year. Attendance had indeed been trending downward, some would say due to a lack of reinvestment over recent years. Many, including those "in the know" and close to the company, were mystified, seeing no rational business logic for the move. At any rate 1997 was it, and gone forever was another of Randall Duell's jewels.
The good folks of Nashville have been praying and dreaming ever since, hoping against hope that somebody would build another Opryland. And maybe, just maybe, their prayers might be answered. Probably all of you know by now that Nate Bargotze, super successful comedian and a Nashville native, is intending to build such a place. He's currently working with a friend of mine and his company on the master planning and feasibility process. But announcing a park and actually, you know, building such a place are two completely different things. It's very, very difficult to pull off such a project in this day and age. Let's join hands and cheer Nate on as he moves to the next steps.
Meantime, I thought I'd mention a few resources that share some of the history of Opryland USA. Might be too late to put these on your Christmas list, but hey, I'm sure you have a birthday coming up at some point before next year's Christmas.
Imagineering an American Dreamscape. Yeah, shameless plug, but my book on regional theme park history tells pretty much the complete story of how the park came about, what it was like when it opened, and the miserable saga of how it went away.
Air Castle of the South. This very detailed and thoroughly sourced book tells the story of the parent company that built the park. Even though our area of interest is only a small segment of the book, I got lots of background on Irvin Waugh and what prompted him to pursue such a grand project.
The Grandest Day. This book was published by the park a few years after opening season. It’s almost poetic in form, meaning it’s not just a straight history of events. But there are some really good nuggets in there along with great photos.
Memories of Opryland. This is a Nashville Public Television documentary completed after the park was bulldozed and turned into a parking lot. It features great interviews with park executives and employees along with terrific footage of this beautiful place.
Like many parks, Arcadia’s Images of America series includes a book on Opryland. It has limited, but quite useful text, and consists mostly of fantastic photographs.
And finally, for lots and lots of photos, memories, and nice folk in general, check out the Opryland Memories Facebook group. Michael Parham was super helpful in fact-checking the Opryland section in my book. He was also a contributor to my Ticket to Ride coffee table book, providing photos of the Opryland railroad.
