Asked what will happen to Nashville’s old Greer Stadium, Dean said “The city owns that. That’s something we’re going to have to discuss with the community and the Council. There’ll be a whole range of ideas. We’ll make a decision on that down the road. Of course, the Sounds are going to have to play there again (next season, before the new stadium’s planned opening in 2015). And so we have plenty of time to think through it in a deliberate and thoughtful way.” (Credit WPLN / Daniel Potter)
There’s a lot of moving parts. That’s our summary of the proposed deal for a new downtown baseball stadium, which Nashville Mayor Karl Dean hopes to get fully approved before the end of the year.
It entails a land swap to get state property. So Metro is handing over millions to pay for a couple new state parking garages. Then there’s a developer adding residential construction nearby, to say nothing of the Sounds, the baseball team itself. See what we mean about complicated?
Mayor Karl Dean thinks the deal could be approved in less than two months.
“It’s been run by everybody at the state. So I would anticipate that it will pass. You know, there’s no guarantees of anything.”
Top state officials will have to sign off on the deal, worth $150 million, which must also pass several votes in the Metro Council.
Asked how it would all affect the city’s taxes, Dean simply replied, “It won’t.”
Link to a presentation (PDF) on the proposal here.
The deal was approved by Nashville’s Sports Authority Monday. You can find a video of officials discussing it here.
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