Posted: June-16-2010 at 5:52am | IP Logged	Tweet

Gaylord: Damages Total Over $200 Million, Opryland Closed Until November


Following last month's historic flooding, the cost to clean up Nashville's Opryland Resort and Convention Center, as well as the Grand Ole Opry and its other local assets, will be between $215 million and $225 million, Gaylord Entertainment Co. announced yesterday, adding that Opyrland will remain closed until Nov. 15.

"We have made significant progress in our work to assess and repair the damage inflicted by the historic flooding," Gaylord Chairman and CEO Colin V. Reed said in a statement. "Our Nashville-area assets have been stabilized and we have a large group of contractors and experts working diligently alongside our management team to get us back to business as soon as possible."

During a conference call with stakeholders yesterday, Reed fully outlined the extent of flood damage at Opryland. Although the resort's lobbies, restaurants and exhibition space will require extensive cleaning, repair and renovations, only 117 of its 2,881 guest rooms will have to be refurbished. Because most of its mechanical systems will have to be replaced, Gaylord said it's taking the opportunity to upgrade to a more energy-efficient electrical system at Opryland, which will save 10 to 20 percent off its $9 million electricity bill.

So far, Gaylord has moved 61,984 of the 329,900 room nights scheduled for the next six months to other Nashville hotels, and nearly 36,000 to Gaylord's other resorts in Orlando, Dallas and Washington, D.C. More than 4,000 room nights have been moved to elsewhere in Tennessee.

"We are gratified by the understanding and support of our loyal guests as we work through this difficult time," Reed said. "We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible service and convention experience, and that is always going to be our focus, whether they choose to remain within the Gaylord family or relocate to another site in Nashville or elsewhere."

Because Opryland won't reopen until November, Gaylord also said it plans to lay off 1,743 of the resort's employees, effective June 12.

"We are deeply sorry to have to make this incredibly difficult decision, as our employees are and have always been the driving force behind the success of our business," Reed said. "The cost of this disaster has meant that we have to balance the future of our business and our fiduciary duty to our shareholders with the duty we have to our employees. We are grateful for everything our employees have done to make Gaylord Opryland a wonderful place to work and visit, and thank them for the courage and commitment they have shown over the last month."

Gaylord isn't alone. Since May 10, nearly 17 percent of new unemployment applicants statewide lost their jobs thanks to last month's flooding, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Meanwhile, the Nashville Business Journal reported this week, flooding damaged 2,728 businesses in Nashville with $3 billion in revenue and 9,447 employees.

(from SuccessfulMeetings.com)