First Tennessee Field

First Tennessee Field
Location	1st Avenue & Korean Veterans Blvd. Nashville, TN United States
Coordinates	36°9′34.51″N 86°46′17.47″W / 36.1595861°N 86.7715194°W / 36.1595861; -86.7715194
Opened	Project canceled
Owner	Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Operator	Nashville Sounds*
Construction cost	$43 million*
Architect	HOK Sport Looney Ricks Kiss
Capacity	approximately 11,200*
Field dimensions	Left Field: 318 ft (97 m)* Center Field: 415 ft (126 m)* Right Field: 330 ft (101 m)*
Tenants
Nashville Sounds (PCL)* *proposed

First Tennessee Field was the name of a proposed minor league baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.^[1] The new ballpark was to sit on the banks of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville, on the former site of the Nashville Thermal Transfer Plant.^[2] It would have been home to the Nashville Sounds, a Triple-A baseball team of the Pacific Coast League, replacing Herschel Greer Stadium.

The Memphis-based financial services company First Tennessee agreed to a $4.125 million deal for naming rights to the proposed stadium.^[3] The ballpark would have been the central part of a $200 million retail, entertainment, and residential complex, which was expected to continue the revitalization of Nashville's "SoBro" (South of Broadway) district. The project was canceled and plans for the ballpark were scrapped.

Financing and planning

A consortium of twelve banks was to fund $23 million of the cost of construction of the stadium. Another $17 million would come from tax-increment financing. The remaining portion of construction costs would have been assumed by Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, the primary developer, which was to purchase some of the land for residential development. Together, the financing assured that no public money would be used. First Tennessee Field itself was estimated to cost $43 million.

Initially, Nashville's mayor, Bill Purcell, refused to approve the deal unless taxpayers were at no risk, following the construction of LP Field and Bridgestone Arena in the mid-1990s. Both of those ventures, initiated by former mayor Phil Bredesen (who later held the office of Governor of Tennessee), proved to be very costly to Nashville taxpayers. First Tennessee Field was to cost the Metro government $500,000 per year in maintenance costs. At the time, Metro spent $250,000 per year on Greer Stadium, a cost that would be eliminated if Greer is ever demolished or sold. Purcell ultimately adopted the project, thanks to the involvement of the banks. First Tennessee Field was officially approved by the Metro Council on February 7, 2006. As part of the agreement, the facility would be managed by the Sounds, but owned by the Metro government.

Cancellation of project

The stadium was scheduled to open in April 2009, two years later than the original target date due to the numerous delays in government approval of the project. The Sounds and private developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse were unable to finalize financing and design plans for the new stadium by the April 15, 2007 deadline set by the Nashville Metro Council.^[4] Shortly thereafter, construction of First Tennessee Field was officially canceled.^[5]

References

General

• Vrooman, John. "Country Hard Ball in Music City: Economics of the Nashville Sounds Ball Park Deal" Vanderbilt University. 2 February 2007.

Specific