Several Nashville bar owners are working with Mayor John Cooper to safely reopen their establishments later this month, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The bars, which have been closed since July 2, when the city returned to a modified Phase 2, hope to reopen as soon as August 15, with a few parameters in place.
“The message we’re trying to convey to visitors, if you want Nashville to be here next year, you will wear a mask,” Rob Mortensen, President/CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association, told WSMV.
Rob and Mayor Cooper, along with several bar owners, have spent much of the last three days in meetings, trying to formulate a plan that will reopen many of the closed businesses.
“One of the things I keep hearing from the mayor is, ‘I want you all back in business, I need you back,’” Rob stated. “However, we have to understand how we move the city back as a place where we are all safe.”
Nashville has been highlighted as a city that hasn’t always abided by safety guidelines, including congregating in and around lower Broadway — a popular tourist hotspot — as well as recently making headlines for a large Nashville Fashion House party in east Nashville, which resulted in two arrests for not following health orders. According to Rob, the key to making sure Nashville can move forward, and not backward, is following all of the guidelines.
“I think masks is one of them. Also how we congregate,” he shared. “What we know is that when folks get together, they take their masks off.”
The CEO added that the model that has been working for restaurants could work for bars as well.
“What we found out, restaurants are a really safe place,” he said. “We are sitting people at no more than six per table keeping social distance. All of these procedures in place to keep people safe in restaurants.”
As part of the modified Phase 2, restaurants could open at 50 percent capacity, but bars that make the majority of their revenue from alcohol were forced to close their doors. A new campaign, Be a Honky Tonk Hero, has been launched as part of an initiative to encourage complying with the guidelines, including social distancing and mask-wearing, so more places can safely reopen, and stay open.
“If you love our entertainment district, our employees, and our musicians, we’re going to ask you and everyone who comes to our establishments to do their part and be a Honky Tonk Hero,” Brenda and Ruble Sanderson, owners of Broadway Entertainment, said (via Fox 17). “Being safe and respectful isn’t just best for the health of everyone downtown. It allows us to open and stay open by keeping the employees, musicians, and vendors who rely on us working. We’re playing our part, now we ask you to play yours.”
