The rear of Bridgestone Arena fronting the new Music City Center is “poised for a dramatic makeover that includes street-level restaurants and retail as part of a $110 million capital-spending plan" submitted on Friday by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s administration to the Nashville Metro Council, according to Joey Garrison of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. The arena project “accounts for $7 million of the mayor’s list of capital projects.” The Metro Council “wants to turn the area near the convention center’s entranceway into a larger entertainment district.” Exterior improvements to the arena “would include a new entrance and plaza area; glass to replace portions of the existing concrete structure on the arena’s south side; and additional upgrades to accommodate the retail area along Demonbreun and Fifth.” K.C.-based Populous Inc., the arena’s original architectural firm, is “in the process of finalizing designs.” The newly filed spending plan is “scheduled to head before the council for a vote on Jan. 15.” Predators President & COO Sean Henry, who also serves in the same roles for the arena, said that designs of the upgrades “could be complete over the next six weeks in time for construction to be complete by late fall.” Henry “called the mayor’s plans ‘final proof’ of the city’s commitment to hockey and the state of the franchise” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 1/5).
