Thousands of paper butterflies shot into the air outside Dolly Parton's SongTeller Hotel as children danced beneath them on Third Avenue, just north of Broadway on the morning of Oct. 6.
On either side of the hotel entrance, confetti cannons fired moments after General Manager Shannon Foster sliced through a white ribbon bearing butterfly-and-music-note clip art with oversized gold scissors. Children and families from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library stood alongside hotel leaders for the ceremony, marking the official opening of one of the final major projects Parton worked on before her death Aug. 25 at age 80.
"Dolly has described SongTeller as her love letter to Nashville," Foster told the crowd gathered outside the hotel. "When you walk
through these doors, you're stepping into something that is much more than a hotel."
The 11-story hotel and Dolly's Life of Many Colors Museum opened for business Sept. 29 at 211 Commerce St., at the corner of Third Avenue North. Parton purchased the former office building for $75 million in 2023 and spent years helping shape the property.
Her longtime creative director Steve Summers called the opening "bittersweet."
"This has been a dream of Dolly's," Summers said. "It's a masterpiece, and it's a master class in hospitality."
Summers said Parton was "shining down" on the celebration as guests prepared to enter a place designed around her life, music and spirit.
"You're going to see it, feel it, and you're going to know that you're in a place where your heart guides you," he said. "That's how she would want to be remembered."
Jeff Conyers, president of the Dollywood Foundation, stood with three families whose children have participated in Parton's Imagination Library. The literacy program received millions of dollars in funding from global donors following her death. The organization, inspired by Parton's father, who could not read or write, has grown from a program in her East Tennessee hometown into an international effort distributing millions of books each month.
"These children represent something Dolly cared deeply about, giving people the chance to dream, discover something new and imagine what might be possible," Conyers said.
Bryan West is a music reporter at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dolly Parton's Nashville hotel opens with butterfly confetti
