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ICI•pg_3-13__BMT_pg3-58 1/22/13 1:13 AM Page 12 H OT E L H A P P E N I N G S OMNI NASHVILLE HOTEL TOPS OUT 17 MONTHS AFTER GROUNDBREAKING Luxury Hotel, Nashville Mayor and City Leaders Recognize Significant Construction Milestone Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, the Metro Council, leaders from Music City Center, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum recently joined Omni Hotels & Resorts to commemorate the ceremonial topping out of the 21-story, 800-room Omni Nashville Hotel. The 800-person construction crew reached this milestone 17 months to the day after ground was broken on the new convention center hotel. A special ceremony and reception were held at the construction site where a Norwegian pine tree attached to a structural steel beam was hoisted to the top of the 21st floor of the property – a topping out tradition symbolizing appreciation and good fortune. "This construction milestone at the Omni Nashville Hotel brings our city another step closer to the opening of one of the most distinctive convention center campuses in the country," Mayor Dean said. "The hotel, along with the new Music City Center and expanded Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, will add a new level of energy to our downtown, making Nashville an even more vibrant destination." The Omni Nashville Hotel will incorporate more than 80,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting and event space, including a 25,000-sq. ft. ballroom, a 15,000-sq. ft. junior ballroom and over 49,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space. Each ballroom is divisible into multiple sections and there are 21 additional breakout rooms. The nearby Music City Center will be 1.2 million sq. ft., featuring a 350,000-sq. ft. exhibit hall, a 57,000-sq. ft. grand ballroom and an 18,000-sq. ft. junior ballroom. It also offers 90,000 sq. ft. of meeting room space – approximately 60 meeting rooms – and 32 loading docks available for convention planners. "There's growing interest around Nashville, and we are eager to host meetings and conventions of all sizes as well as leisure and business travelers" said Ed Netzhammer, regional vice president for Omni Hotels & Resorts. "Since the Omni Nashville Hotel began taking reservations last August, the team has booked more than 175,000 room nights, crediting Nashville's rapidly growing amount of meeting space, unique attractions and the work of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau for promoting Music City's one-of-a-kind offerings." The Omni Nashville Hotel was specially created to be an authentic expression of Nashville. Across from the new Music City Center, which will open in April of 2013, the luxury hotel will be a one-of-a-kind experience, seamlessly connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum® on three levels. Scheduled to open in late 2013, the Omni Nashville Hotel, designed by Looney & Associates, is a modern expression of the city's distinct character, incorporating natural materials, exposed steel and regional limestone. Constructed by Brasfield & Gorrie, the LEED Silver New Construction project includes utilization of regional materials, water use reduction and water efficient landscaping, green power, recycled materials and resources and more. The Omni Nashville Hotel is located on 5th Ave. between Demonbreun and Korean Veterans Blvd. The multi-story hotel and expanded museum will share meeting and entertainment space and bring additional restaurants and retail venues to downtown Nashville, including a renowned steak house, live music entertainment bar and farm-to-table restaurant, as well as retail space, lounges, a signature Mokara Spa, urban pool deck and more. To get additional information or book a group meeting or convention, planners may visit omnihotels.com or call (800) The-Omni. Follow Omni Hotels & Resorts at Facebook.com/OmniHotels and Twitter.com/OmniHotels. 12 B M & T ••• November/December 2012 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com