Renderings Unveiled for Bellevue Preds Ice Center, Set to Open in Sept.

In just six more months, Nashville will have two new sheets of ice.
Progress is moving right along at Preds Ice Center, which will call One Bellevue Place home, and with the new year upon us, it won't be long before the facility becomes the second opened by the Preds and housed in Davidson County.
Back in June of 2018, Predators leadership got together in Bellevue with members of the Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County Office of the Mayor, Sports Authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and the Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation to break ground and commemorate the partnership.
Now, the visions and renderings - which are rather impressive - are becoming closer to reality.

"We can't wait to open this facility," Ford Ice Center General Manager Danny Butler said. "We're excited to have two more sheets of ice in Nashville, which will provide hockey players and figure skaters from all over the state and beyond further opportunities to do what they love. This project will be a huge benefit to Bellevue, West Nashville and the surrounding communities, and we're pleased to have the Predators logo at the forefront."
After the tremendous success of Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee, which was opened in August 2014, the Preds realized there was demand for ice in the city like never before. This new facility comes in response to that, and as Predators President and CEO Sean Henry has said many times before, the organization has plans to continue building rinks like this for the foreseeable future.

The groundbreaking back in June was a day six years in the making, and it started with a phone call from Metro Councilwoman Sheri Weiner to Henry. The ask was simple - she and her constituents wanted an ice rink in their community of Bellevue.
After seeing the success of the Ford Ice Center in a different part of the county, Bellevue wanted in. Luckily for everyone involved, the Preds share that desire to continue building rinks throughout the region.

"We don't have enough ice," Henry told the crowd back in June. "And as soon as we open this one, do you know what we're not going to have? Enough ice. The thing about creating ice, the more you create the more you need."
So, ready for some specs and details on what's to come in September of 2019?
The 110,000 square-foot structure will house two sheets of ice and 12 locker rooms, three of which will be used for Junior Preds AAA Teams. There will be a Grab and Go Stand, similar to the Twice Daily convenience concession locations at Bridgestone Arena, as well as a full restaurant with views of both rinks.

There will be plenty of seating - room for more than 1,000 spectators on one rink and more than 500 for the other. A state-of-the-art Ice Plant System by Cimco, as well as two brand-new electric Zambonis - which will be the only ones in the entire state - will help to ensure the facility has top-notch technology for ideal ice conditions.
There will also be a dry-land training facility, a full-service hockey and skating store, a Nashville Predators Alumni lounge and private party rooms available for rental.
Tournaments and events are already being scheduled with youth and adult hockey leagues to be offered, as well as the G.O.A.L!, Little Preds and PREDecessor programs that have become staples at Ford Ice Center.
In addition, the Preds Ice Center will host the Predators 2019 Rookie Tournament, an annual prospect showcase between other NHL teams.

Excited yet?
It will only be a matter of time before the project is facilitating the growth of hockey and figure skating in Music City even further, and the Predators want more of these rinks in Middle Tennessee and beyond.
Interested in ice near your home? Reach out to your local leaders, just as the residents of Bellevue did, to help gain support for what is sure to be a community pillar for decades to come.
After all, it's only a matter of time until the first born-and-raised Tennessean makes their way through a Predators-run facility and onto the NHL.