Soccer in Nashville

[markhollin]

More steel rising:

 

[thenorthchannel]

Interesting change proposed by Mayor’s office.  Tear down old grandstands and rebuild on Fair Park. 

[downtownresident]

So essentially rebuild them on the other side of the track? 

[titanhog]

3 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

So essentially rebuild them on the other side of the track? 

If they did that, I think they would have to move the existing creek closer to Craighead?

[Melrose]

Sounds like tear down the entire facility and rebuild a new one on top of the old one, which also includes new bleachers on land that is currently part of Fair Park..... 

[PaulChinetti]

I mean, I guess. Not sure why though?

There isn't enough money to refurb it, but there is enough money to tear down and rebuild?

[downtownresident]

8 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

I mean, I guess. Not sure why though?

There isn't enough money to refurb it, but there is enough money to tear down and rebuild?

They can probably build larger stands of they build new, and fix the drainage where water will come into the infield at the same time. 
 

Edit: I’d imagine that Colby Sledge is going to put up a huuuge fight against this. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by downtownresident

[smeagolsfree]

I think the Bristol people will probably foot most of the bill.

[titanhog]

Hey…if Bristol wants to unload a truck of money and totally rebuild the track and make it state-of-the-art…more power to them.  Would be nice to have new flea market buildings…a new soccer stadium…a new multi-purpose racetrack and mixed use towers.

[markhollin]

Moody Nolan and Pinnacle Construction, two minority-owned contractors,  will handle the architecture and construction, respectively, for the 15 acre Nashville SC Training Facility in Century Farms.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/02/09/minority-firms-nashville-sc.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

[MidTenn1]

3 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I think the Bristol people will probably foot most of the bill.

So, last year, the Mayor made the team owner and site developer, Ingram, give concessions on building layouts for nothing? 

[PaulChinetti]

@PHofKS You are assuming this administration had a plan other than "soccer bad". 

[Jamie Hall]

Removing existing seating and replacing it entirely would provide some key amenities for a more modern experience: More comfortable open-air seating (sans that metal roof) and the opportunity to add multiple luxury suites for a potentially big revenue stream. This would be a big win for the overall fan experience and probably a key component to taking the track to the next level.

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

Moody Nolan and Pinnacle Construction, two minority-owned contractors,  will handle the architecture and construction, respectively, for the 15 acre Nashville SC Training Facility in Century Farms.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/02/09/minority-firms-nashville-sc.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

Bob, do you have any idea where in Century Farms this will go?

[Bos2Nash]

22 hours ago, downtownresident said:

So essentially rebuild them on the other side of the track? 

22 hours ago, titanhog said:

If they did that, I think they would have to move the existing creek closer to Craighead?

No. The Nashville Post article that Mark shared in the Fairgrounds thread states that SMI wants Turn 1 Grandstands. With Fair Park being directly to the south of the racetrack I am presunming they rebuild the existing grandstands while adding new stands in turn one over part of the park land.  This would require some access logistics/management because turn one was where all the conern over emergency vehicle access and mass crowd movements was awhile back. Also flipping the track would be a large waste of money because of the upgrades to the infield that will most likely have to occur to welcome back NASCAR events. Things such as infield care center, hauler parking (prolly need to make the track tunnel bigger or have on track acces to the garage like Martinsville/Bristol/Dover - this is another logistcal concern), garage spaces would all have to be added to the infield and flipping the grandstand to the other side of the track from start/finish, pit lane, short track would be disasterous for the fan experience.

I'm gonna be very unpopular with this opinion, but I think you guys rag on Cooper too much when it comes to the soccer stadium. Ingram didn't go anywhere and Cooper got them to fork over more cash that they already had so it was really a win-win for the city. Shame on the city prior to Cooper for not incorporating the historic racetrack into all their public sessions. Cooper needs to get a presentable plan together do a public process, but i would also expect bonds to be issued for any racetrack modification. We set the precedent for bonds with the soccer stadium and now I can only imagine SMI will want the same treatment. I think Cooper has done a relatively good job at stopping the bleeding in terms of a crapty situation that was hadned to him.

[MLBrumby]

Not going to weigh in on the Fairgrounds deal with Ingram as I'm not familiar with details, but it appears that he successfully renegotiated that to the city's advantage.  I wonder how well that would have worked with a prospective owner from out-of-town and/or the soccer team had not yet been awarded.  Plus (and I seem to recall that the lawsuit had been settled) I think Ingram may have realized he'd dodged a bullet and didn't want the mayor to side against him. 

I think the anger at Cooper results from his mishandling the Microsoft visit and making a grand display of not hosting them. Plus, he's just such a sourpuss. Not quite as much as his brother, but close.  Personally I think it's a shame that a place that likes to see itself as a cosmopolitan "New South" city, can't do better than the Cooper brothers. Shades of Hooterville!

[downtownresident]

1 minute ago, MLBrumby said:

Not going to weigh in on the Fairgrounds deal with Ingram as I'm not familiar with details, but it appears that he successfully renegotiated that to the city's advantage.  I wonder how well that would have worked with a prospective owner from out-of-town and/or the soccer team had not yet been awarded.  Plus (and I seem to recall that the lawsuit had been settled) I think Ingram may have realized he'd dodged a bullet and didn't want the mayor to side against him. 

I think the anger at Cooper results from his mishandling the Microsoft visit and making a grand display of not hosting them. Plus, he's just such a sourpuss. Not quite as much as his brother, but close.  Personally I think it's a shame that a place that likes to see itself as a cosmopolitan "New South" city, can't do better than the Cooper brothers. Shades of Hooterville!

He had a stretch of a couple of months where he reneged on the Asurion and Smile Direct deals(and gloated about it publicly), the Microsoft visit bungling, and the public back and forth between the city and Nashville SC. I'm happy with the end result of the re-negotiations, but the way things played out were absolutely terrible. 

Mayor Cooper(recent comments on competing with Austin for tech jobs) and the administration(see Finance Director Crumbo's recent interview) has seemed to have changed his tune regarding growth as of late, and I hope that the person who will soon be hired to lead the ECD office is competent and aggressive. 

[nashvylle]

Turn 1 is at the top of this photo. 

[smeagolsfree]

More on this from the Tennessean today.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/10/nashville-fairgrounds-speedway-racing-fair-park-mayor-john-cooper/4453187001/

[smeagolsfree]

I watched most of the portion of the Fairgrounds meeting and part of the issue is the Cap. sending plan does not allocate money for the Phase 2 of the Mixed use development.

The other thing to remember is this is a proposal at this point and that is what Ron Gobbell was trying to convey too. I think a lot of this is going to get shot down. It just sort of seems the mayors office may be dropping the ball again will funding commitments to what needs to happen first and not the race track.

My own feeling is that if the racing group wants to do something, they need to front 100% of the cost!

 

[nashvylle]

1 minute ago, smeagolsfree said:

I watched most of the portion of the Fairgrounds meeting and part of the issue is the Cap. sending plan does not allocate money for the Phase 2 of the Mixed use development.

The other thing to remember is this is a proposal at this point and that is what Ron Gobbell was trying to convey too. I think a lot of this is going to get shot down. It just sort of seems the mayors office may be dropping the ball again will funding commitments to what needs to happen first and not the race track.

My own feeling is that if the racing group wants to do something, they need to front 100% of the cost!

 

What is phase 2 of the mixed-use development?
I thought the capital plan did not include funding for the brown's creek and fair park drainage... and if the mayor's office is serious about this racetrack/grandstand renovation & addition, why spend money on fair park if a grandstand is built upon it?

[downtownresident]

2 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

I watched most of the portion of the Fairgrounds meeting and part of the issue is the Cap. sending plan does not allocate money for the Phase 2 of the Mixed use development.

The other thing to remember is this is a proposal at this point and that is what Ron Gobbell was trying to convey too. I think a lot of this is going to get shot down. It just sort of seems the mayors office may be dropping the ball again will funding commitments to what needs to happen first and not the race track.

My own feeling is that if the racing group wants to do something, they need to front 100% of the cost!

 

The issue raised by Council-members Young and Sledge was the lack of funding for phase 2 of Fair Park. AFAIK, no public money is going to be used for the Mixed use component. 

Just now, nashvylle said:

What is phase 2 of the mixed-use development?
I thought the capital plan did not include funding for the brown's creek and fair park drainage... and if the mayor's office is serious about this racetrack/grandstand renovation & addition, why spend money on fair park if a grandstand is built upon it?

The portion of Fair Park that the grandstands would encroach on has already been built. 

[smeagolsfree]

3 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

The issue raised by Council-members Young and Sledge was the lack of funding for phase 2 of Fair Park. AFAIK, no public money is going to be used for the Mixed use component. 

The portion of Fair Park that the grandstands would encroach on has already been built. 

That's what I meant was for Phase 2 of Fair Park.  Brain freeze!

[Bos2Nash]

9 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

I watched most of the portion of the Fairgrounds meeting and part of the issue is the Cap. sending plan does not allocate money for the Phase 2 of the Mixed use development.

6 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

The issue raised by Council-members Young and Sledge was the lack of funding for phase 2 of Fair Park. AFAIK, no public money is going to be used for the Mixed use component. 

Is the circled area below Phase 2? It appears the other portions have all been built and I presume the Wedgewood Ave Extension would also be in phase 2, no?

10 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

The other thing to remember is this is a proposal at this point and that is what Ron Gobbell was trying to convey too. I think a lot of this is going to get shot down. It just sort of seems the mayors office may be dropping the ball again will funding commitments to what needs to happen first and not the race track.

My own feeling is that if the racing group wants to do something, they need to front 100% of the cost!

I agree that these preliminary plans need to be flushed through with relative haste. The preliminary plans have to have some real definition prior to the public process starting or else it will stall out and die. If Phase 2 is really what is circled above, the racetrack MUST have a plan of action because Phase 2 is removing the staging area for most of the racing events, so those folks would have to move to the infield of the racetrack. I would think once they get a plan setup and the public process going, Phase 2 will make it's way into the Captial Spending Plan along with a Bond deal for the SMI group. There is no way SMI is going to front 100% of the cost if the city just posted 225 million in bonds for the soccer stadium and SMI is asking for roughly 1/4 of that number. Yes, SMI should be responsible for all the debt servicing and should have the same cuts going back to the city as the soccer stadium, but the city set a precedant and now must live with it. What makes this deal sweeter than the soccer deal is it hasnt been reported that SMI is asking for land in which they build and profit off of other then their events. A deal for the speedway is much more logical than the deal for soccer or a new MLB stadium.

[downtownresident]

1 minute ago, Bos2Nash said:

Is the circled area below Phase 2? It appears the other portions have all been built and I presume the Wedgewood Ave Extension would also be in phase 2, no?

I agree that these preliminary plans need to be flushed through with relative haste. The preliminary plans have to have some real definition prior to the public process starting or else it will stall out and die. If Phase 2 is really what is circled above, the racetrack MUST have a plan of action because Phase 2 is removing the staging area for most of the racing events, so those folks would have to move to the infield of the racetrack. I would think once they get a plan setup and the public process going, Phase 2 will make it's way into the Captial Spending Plan along with a Bond deal for the SMI group. There is no way SMI is going to front 100% of the cost if the city just posted 225 million in bonds for the soccer stadium and SMI is asking for roughly 1/4 of that number. Yes, SMI should be responsible for all the debt servicing and should have the same cuts going back to the city as the soccer stadium, but the city set a precedant and now must live with it. What makes this deal sweeter than the soccer deal is it hasnt been reported that SMI is asking for land in which they build and profit off of other then their events. A deal for the speedway is much more logical than the deal for soccer or a new MLB stadium.

Yep! That is phase two. 

A bond deal where the debt service is paid for by SMI would be acceptable, assuming that the logistics of Fair Park get worked out.