Preds, Metro Officials Break Ground on Bellevue Ice Center

When the Nashville Predators broke ground on the Ford Ice Center five years ago, hopes were high for what the building would do for hockey and skating in the region.
Little did they know.
Five years later, hockey players, figure skaters and community members alike stream through one of the busiest facilities in the country from 5 a.m. until 1 a.m., a nonstop show of support for the sports in a city where indoor ice was once a foreign concept.

So, on Friday afternoon in Bellevue, Tennessee, hockey sticks converted into shovels were driven into the dirt to commemorate the groundbreaking of a second space - named Preds Ice Center for now - which will call One Bellevue Place home. Along with the Predators front office, 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 were all on hand to commemorate the partnership.
It was a day six years in the making, starting with a phone call from Metro Councilwoman Sheri Weiner to Predators CEO Sean Henry. The ask was simple - she wanted an ice rink in her community of Bellevue.
In August of 2019, that wish will become a reality when the center opens its doors, presenting two new sheets of ice and a recreation center.
And according to Henry, this facility isn't the last one in the region, it's simply just the second.

"We don't have enough ice," Henry told the crowd. "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."
Ford Ice Center certainly backs that statement up, and as the game continues to grow in the region - thanks in large part to the efforts of the Predators franchise on and off the ice - Henry believes more and more towns in the Nashville metro area, and even the state of Tennessee, will have ice rinks with the Preds logo affixed to the front.
"The more ice we have, the more ability we have to bring in more offerings," Henry said. "But even better than that, the more ice we have, the bigger the base grows from recreational hockey, and then those junior teams. And then ideally, the Future Stars Game we're playing [at Bridgestone Arena on Friday night] will feature a young man or a lady from right here in Nashville that started playing here and finished playing here before they were drafted."
If there's one thing the Predators have learned to do really well, it's to introduce the game of hockey to young and old alike, converting them from casual supporters to fans for life.
For all the children and adults learning to love the game that much more by lacing up the skates at Ford Ice Center, there's about to be another wave coming from the west side of Davidson County.
Soon enough, it's quite possible the Davidson County will house not one, but two of the busiest ice rinks in the country.