Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium
The Nashville Fairgrounds Stadium is a planned soccer-specific stadium at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be the home of Nashville SC, a Major League Soccer expansion franchise which began play in 2020 at its temporary home in Nissan Stadium. Lawsuits to prevent its construction filed by supporters of the historic Tennessee State Fair were dismissed by Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle in 2017 and 2019, but overturned by Appellate Judge J. Steven Stafford in July 2019 and litigation continues as of March 2020.
Construction
In December 2016, the construction was expected to cost $275 million. Billionaire businessman John Ingram was expected to pay "$25 million up front and $9 million a year over 30 years to help retire Metro's annual $13 million debt for the $225 bond issuance." Additionally, the Nashville Fairgrounds would be renovated for an additional $40 million.As part of the public-private partnership, Mayor Megan Barry vowed to give "10 acres of city-owned fairgrounds land for a mix-use development next to the stadium" to the developers, including Ingram.
The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County approved $25 million in 2018, and an additional $5 million was approved directly by Mayor David Briley's office "from a 2017 contingency fund" without the council's approval in February 2019, for a total of $37.6 million.
The stadium is expected to be part of a re-development project at the fairgrounds site that is to also include a relocated Expo event space, new mixed-use retail and residential buildings and an upgraded Fairgrounds Speedway capable of hosting NASCAR events.
By February 2019, its construction had been delayed and its budget had increased. The original builder, Ely Concrete, abandoned the project and they were replaced by TRC Construction Services. By August 2019, the construction was expected to cost "between $325 million and $345 million", or "between $50 million and $70 million more than initial estimates," to be covered by billionaire Ingram and other investors, not taxpayers.
As of July 2019, an exposition center was under construction for the State Fair. By August 23, the fair was expected to be held on September 6-15 "in the old fairgrounds space."
A resolution to stop the demolition of buildings and make way for the stadium was introduced by council member Steve Glover on August 2, but it was voted down on August 21.
Nashville SC was originally supposed to start playing in the stadium in 2020, but by 2019 it had been delayed to 2022. It is expected to be "the largest stadium built for soccer in North America" according to The Tennessean.
On March 29, 2019, Trevecca Nazarene University announced that in addition to the launching of its football program in 2021, it also announced that the team will be playing home games at the stadium in 2022.
Revised stadium deal and construction
On February 13, 2020, the agreements of the stadium deal were amended in order to allow for construction to begin on the site. This amended deal, an agreement reached by Nashville mayor John Cooper and the club's lead owner, John R. Ingram, stated that the team will fund 100 percent of the stadium's construction costs on the Fairgrounds site. This will be accomplished through lease payments on the stadium, cash investments, and revenue collected from the attendees of events at the stadium. In addition to the aforementioned agreement from the team, Nashville SC also committed to paying for the infrastructure in the immediate area around the stadium, estimated to cost $19 million. The team will pay $35 million in lease payments. Altogether, the team has agreed to a total of $54 million in additional payments.In addition to the aforementioned monetary agreements of the deal, the team and the city finally came to an agreement on the parcel of land titled 8C. Parcel 8C is about 2.4 acres in size and is located between the site of the future stadium and the Fairgrounds Speedway. This parcel of land is what prohibited a deal from being reached prior to February 13, 2020. Mayor Cooper wanted the team to give up this piece of land and in a response to a letter from John Ingram, Cooper described parcel 8C saying, "The public space that links two 30,000-seat stadiums has the potential to become one of the most important in Nashville. Careful design and execution is essential to make the site work for two large public venues - supporting circulation, security, staging and access." Ultimately, the deal reached between the city and the team on February 13 stated that the piece of land will be made into a mixed-use open plaza that will allow space for future Fairgrounds and Speedway activities and uses.
On March 16, 2020, demolition on the fairgrounds site began. On April 9, 2020, Ian Ayre published an open letter to fans stating that the demolition on the site is “progressing steadily and in a timely fashion." Ayre also stated that team had completed construction documents and that the expected completion date for the stadium is mid-May 2022.
Lawsuits
In November 2017, Metro Nashville was sued by a group called Save Our Fairgrounds on the basis that the construction could disrupt the Tennessee State Fair, the Nashville Flea Market, and Fairgrounds Speedway racing activities. The lawsuit was dismissed by Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle in December 2017. The dismissal was overturned by Appellate Judge J. Steven Stafford in July 2019 to address the "duties of the Fair Board and their ability to collect taxes on fairground activities."In January 2019, a second lawsuit was filed by Tennessee State Fair Association, chaired by Republican Congressman John Rose, against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. According to The Tennessean, the suit contended that the construction of the stadium failed to "leave sufficient space and structures for the state fair, which is a protected use in the Metro Charter." The suit was dismissed by the same judge, Ellen Hobbs Lyle, a few days later. The TSFA planned to take the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court, but on February 19, 2019 they decided to settle out of court and hope for a meeting with the Metropolitan Council.