Mayor: New Sounds Stadium Still A Good Investment, Even At $10M Over Budget

If Mayor Karl Dean had known years ago the Nashville Sounds’ new ballpark would end up costing $75 million dollars, would he have moved forward with the plan?

“Definitely,” Dean says, repeating the word for emphasis.

Team officials point to extra environmental cleanup, winter weather and rising construction costs as the culprits for the latest cost increase, which is taking the construction price tag $10 million over budget.

Of that amount, Mayor Dean says  $2 million will go toward video board upgrades, something the team requested and will cover. “You know, it’s $8 million over, and two million more the Sounds are putting in,” says Dean. “This project is going to pay for itself long term.  You can just look around you and see it’s already happening.”

Owner Frank Ward says the new 60-foot-tall, guitar-shaped scoreboard will be one of the stadium’s signature features. Ward and Mayor Dean placed home plate in the ground Thursday afternoon after it was brought over from the team’s old stadium.

The Sounds’ home opener is less than a month away.