May 2nd, 2010. Sunday Morning. The phone rings:
Me: “Hello?”
Mark: “Hey, I need you out here. Can you be here by 10:00? Wear boots and bring gloves. It’s pretty nasty.”
Me: “Huh? Mark, where?”
Mark: “The Opry. It’s underwater, and we’re gonna have to put it back together as fast as possible. I don’t know what I’ll need you doing, but just get out here.”
The Grand Ole Opry had between 4’ and 8’ of water throughout the building and the property, but as the Opry team said, the show must go on. Opry Shows moved to other venues to continue their performance schedule, while a massive effort was underway at the Opry House. While working as PladStudio, we setup a team office in the job trailer at the site. The owner, the contractor (RC Mathews Contractor), and the architect – 3 desks in one job trailer, working side by side each day to figure it out.
In a mere 22 weeks, the team gutted and cleaned the building, designed all-new backstage dressing rooms, restrooms, and offices, procured building materials – sometimes requiring trips to supply houses in Cincinnati and Atlanta to find what was needed, and re-opened the building and the show. It was a project that exemplified integrated project delivery – demonstrating as only action can, that our best work comes from teamwork. This process gave us the conviction to push harder to change the way we work with owners and contractors – to foster a team attitude for the benefit of the project and all involved.
