Earlier this month, contractors took a painstaking 12 days to tear out the old stage at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and replace it with a reinforced stage of Brazilian teak—but they were able to salvage more of the old material than originally expected, according to The Leaf Chronicle.
On Monday evening, The Band Perry entertained a crowd during the new stage's inaugural concert. Instead of an 18-inch strip of old material at the stage's front, there was a 36-inch strip of original material on which Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley and other musical icons once performed.
Although publicity coming from the Ryman said the old flooring is oak, mill operator and Hardwood Floors reader Malcolm Pearson, who has "looked carefully" at the old stage, said it is beech.
The former stage lasted 61 years, and Ryman organizers said the new stage could last 100 years or more. "It's so beautiful—we couldn't be happier," Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium's general manager, told The Leaf Chronicle. "It's amazing how different it sounds to walk across it. The teak and the subfloor are so strong, and there are no creaks."
The new stage carries a load bearing capacity of 120,000 pounds, up from the old stage's rating of 40,000.
