Four days after the water receded, Barbee and John Jenkinson toured the facility with Bryan to evaluate the damage, create a plan for the renovation and provide cost estimates for the work. The planning and decision making time were critically short as the Opry's 85th birthday celebration was slated for 9 October 9. From the day the marching orders were given, the team had less than three months to work a miracle. Opry VP and GM Pete Fisher, Opry executive director of operations Debbie Ballentine and technical services manager Jon Mire, Bryan, general contractor RC Matthews, electrical contractor Wolfe & Travis, Bandit Lites, and the entire Opry team vowed to make the Opry shine again.
A team of Bandits, sometimes numbering 12 or more, worked endlessly 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 completely renovated.
Many different manufacturers were involved in the quick lighting refurbishment. On the main stage Vari Lite is the moving light of choice with a host of VL 3000 Spots, VL 2500 Spots and the new VLX LED fixtures. Chauvet Lighting provided Colorado 1's, Colorado 3's, Colorado Batten 72's, ColorDash Blocks and ColorDash Accents in addition to the lobby equipment.
ETC was the dimming and control partner with Bandit and the Opry, providing an ETC Ion Console, ETC Paradigm Architectural Controls, Net 3 Network Distribution for DMX and several ETC Source 4's. Fleenor supplied five way DMX splitters, and TMB was the cable supplier of choice for the job.
During the process, manager of maintenance and engineering Rex England contacted Barbee to discuss the renovation of the first floor lobby. The Opry wanted to bring the feeling of the stage lighting out to the lobby as well as update the look. Barbee developed several ideas and budgets for the work before mocking up the final choice. The decision to complete this work was made with barely six weeks before opening.
The solution included a truss design utilising Applied Electronics' Ultra Lite Box Truss and LED Lighting from Chauvet Lighting. The LED lighting included Colorado 1 TOURs, Colorado 1 VW's and ColorDash Accents. The fixtures are controlled from an ETC Paradigm Architectural Control System. The use of LED fixtures was a critical element for England as it obviously reduces the power consumption, the need for air conditioning, and greatly reduces the maintenance and lamp replacement costs.
Bandit staff including Barbee, Jenkinson, Roth Edwards, Jake Tickle, Richard Owens and Bandit President Peter Heffernan spent most every waking moment assuring the quality needs and timelines were met for the September 28 opening.
Bryan noted, "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."
(Jim Evans)
