The Predators on Thursday unveiled concepts to "expand and improve Bridgestone Arena, including a new on-site hotel, an office tower, a secondary ice rink, an expanded concourse and a slate of upgrades to improve the interactive fan experience for millennials," according to a front-page piece by Rau & Garrison of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Predators President & CEO Sean Henry stressed that the plan -- produced by Populous -- is "not a request for specific projects." It is a "conversation starter" with the Metro Nashville Sports Authority to "keep the 20-year-old arena, where the hockey club is the anchor tenant, thriving for the next 20 years." The report mentions a tower "that would be used for a hotel, office space and/or residential space." The report also "identifies a new social rooftop patio area, a restaurant to anchor new retail space and adding a second sheet of ice on-site." Despite the "ambitious upgrades that are identified, Henry downplayed the report as simply a study of 'space management' and an 'exercise in geometry.'" There is "no price tag for the potential projects" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/19). In Nashville, Jacob Steimer noted members of the Nashville Sports Authority "decided to table any discussion of the plan until its September meeting, due to time constraints." If the community wishes to move forward with the overall vision, an engineering study and design tweaks "could come" in the next year. Henry said that construction "would begin in three to eight years." Henry said that he "hopes the renovation would make the building active every day of the year" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/18).
