Bridgestone Arena in Nashville is set to welcome hockey fans back Tuesday after a water main outside the facility broke last Friday and sent water spewing into the facility.
By the time the water main was shut off, the arena's event level, main concourse, locker room and offices were filled with inches of standing water. Operators were forced to postpone three hockey games as a result of the mess.
While there's still more damage that will need attention, the water has been cleaned up and the arena will be able to open its doors again.
"Thanks to the incredible work of each of our employees, the City of Nashville and the Mayor's Office, and countless public agencies and business partners, we can play hockey on Tuesday and host a Maren Morris concert this Friday," Nashville Predators CEO & president Sean Henry told NHL.com. "In fact, we look forward to hosting 17,159 of Smashvillle's greatest hockey fans for our game with the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night."
Nashville mayor John Cooper was thankful for the cooperation that led to the arena being reopened.
"I'm incredibly grateful to the dedicated public servants at Metro Water, the Bridgestone Arena staff and the more than 30 public and private organizations from across the city who quickly came together during a holiday weekend to mitigate the damage and fix the underlying issue," Nashville Mayor John Cooper said. "We're all looking forward to getting Bridgestone back open in time for Tuesday's game, and will continue working closely with all stakeholders to complete the full restoration of the arena."
Henry says additional restoration of the arena could take weeks or even months, but he's grateful that fans can once again enjoy hockey and concerts at the venue.
"We thank our guests for their patience during the restoration process and we are asking each of our event attendees to share any concerns they may have with our guest services team," Henry said. "We are confident everyone coming to the game tomorrow night will have a great time cheering on the Preds."
