Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990 TAG: 9005260360
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
The rustic, renovated red brick building, where the Opry was performed from 1943 to 1974, stands amid high-rise office buildings and downtown hotels.
"I'm so glad it's been saved and restored," says humorist Minnie Pearl, who performed in the auditorium for the 31 years it housed the Opry shows. "It means a great deal to all of us who worked there so long."
During the past year, the entire brick exterior was cleaned - sometimes up to 10 times - using high pressure washers and a variety of chemicals approved by the National Historic Commission in Washington. The Ryman, which seats 3,000, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
All 144 windows were restored to glass. Some had been replaced by Plexiglas and others had been boarded or taped up.
Workers also replaced a large, arched pediment window high on the front of the building. It had been boarded up with plywood for about 20 years since falling out.
"That window is almost a symbol of the whole project," says Tom Adkinson, a spokesman for Opryland USA, which owns the downtown building.
A new roof was put on, and gutters and downspouts were replaced. Ornamental metal around the building was stripped, primed and repainted.
"It's more than just an auditorium," Pearl said. "It's a part of the Opry. We were there so long. It has a quaint sort of shrine-like atmosphere to all of us."
The building, across the street from the Nashville Convention Center, remained open to tourists during the renovation.
There are no plans to restore the interior of the building.
"It has the wear of more than 90 It's more than just an auditorium. It's a part of the Opry. We were there so long. It has a quaint sort of shrine-like atmosphere to all of us. Minnie Pearl years in it, but it also has the character of those years, too," Adkinson said about the inside. "The interior is the way it was the day the Opry left in 1974."
The building opened in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. It was renamed the Ryman Auditorium in 1904 to honor Capt. Tom Ryman, a colorful riverboat captain who led the effort to build the structure for $100,000.
The Grand Ole Opry country music show moved into the Ryman in 1943 and remained there until 1974 when the Grand Ole Opry House was built in suburban Nashville.
The auditorium was not air-conditioned, and resourceful vendors did swift business selling cardboard hand fans - the kind that used to advertise funeral parlors - for 50 cents to the crowds queued up outside.
During the summer, Opry officials kept a nurse on duty to take care of anyone who fainted. Even those who didn't faint had to endure hard wooden pews, which were the only seats in the building.
Opryland USA Inc. has owned the Ryman since 1963 and has operated it as a museum since the Opry moved out.
More than 100,000 people a year pay $2 apiece to tour the Ryman. Visitors can step on the stage and walk through the backstage corridors. They can see the dressing rooms, the stage sets, microphones and props that were used by country music stars such as Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams.
In the 1920s, touring theatrical and musical companies used the Ryman so often that Variety called it "the most popular one-night stand on the road."
Those who have performed in the auditorium include Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Orson Welles, Mae West, Isadora Duncan, Nelson Eddy and the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' Western Revue.
The facility is occsionally used these days for movie or television taping. The Opry bills itself as the world's longest running radio show, having never missed a broadcast since 1925. Portions of the Saturday night performance are broadcast live by The Nashville Network on cable TV.
The renovation was the first step in an urban redevelopment project that will involve the surrounding blocks.
"This is really an historical building," said Hank Snow, a country music legend who performed at the Ryman for 24 years. "It has so many great memories for so many people. I guess you can almost say it's the fountain of country music it goes back so far."
Pearl, who like Snow continues to perform on the Opry at its current location, said she still enjoys visiting the old auditorium.
"Every time I walk on that stage, I get the same feeling."
by CNB