NASHVILLE, TN — The Opryland Hospitality Group announced a strategic partnership with Johnson Controls, Inc., and Simplex to provide secure, high-quality indoor environments for its guests at two new major convention hotels.

Interestingly, the newest Opryland hotels will not be located in Nashville, nor even in Tennessee. The facilities are under construction, one in Kissimmee-St. Cloud, FL, and the other in Grapevine, TX.

Johnson Controls, a building system designer and provider of energy efficiency technologies, will install fully integrated, automated systems which connect hvac, lighting, fire, security, and access controls. The company will team with Simplex, a manufacturer of fire alarm systems, in the $2.6 million contract.

The Opryland Hospitality Group has taken the concept of Nashville’s Opryland Hotel to other meeting destinations in the United States.

The 1,400-room Opryland Hotel Florida, is slated to open in 2002 near Walt Disney World. The 1,500-room Opryland Hotel Texas will be completed in 2003 near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.