May 3, 2010 was a day most Tennesseans will always remember. The day torrential rainfall shut down interstates, tore houses from their foundations, swept church buildings down newly forged riverbeds and swamped the halls of Opry Mills and the corridors of Opryland Hotel. Devastation was widespread, homes were destroyed, lives were lost, and millions of dollars worth of damages were reported on a daily basis as areas all over middle Tennessee struggled to recover as the receding floodwaters revealed the depth of devastation left in their wake.

Opry Mills, located just off Briley Parkway, was opened on the former site of Opryland Amusement Park in 2000. For 10 years this single level mall employed roughly 3,000 people and grossed sales that generated annual sales tax revenues of $26 million. When the flood hit in 2010 it closed the doors of this institution for two years, locked in litigation with an insurance company and struggling to keep its head above the ghost of the water that had long since left the mall echoing and empty.

Bass Pro Shop was the only independent storefront able to reopen, resuming normal operations September 18, 2010, nearly four months after the flood. Everything else in the mall remained closed, with no definitive timeline available for reopening. Until now.

Last night, November 17^th at midnight the Regal Opry Mills 20 officially reopened their doors to coincide with the premier of the newest Twilight installation “Breaking Dawn, Part I.” After a test run of $2.00 movie nights benefiting charities ranging from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to the Second Harvest Food Bank, which collected over $56,000, all 20 screens are now up, running, and operating normal hours. The IMAX screen is back, and the sounds of chatter, crowds, and popping popcorn heralded the reopening of the mall entrances. The remainder of Opry Mills is scheduled to reopen in March of 2012, finally erasing the memories of that day previously broadcasted by empty parking lots and a semi trailer stating “closed for flood renovations.”

Posted by:  Jennifer McClarney

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