Nashville's Metro Sports Authority BOD on Thursday gave "preliminary approval" to contract Populous as the "lead architectural, engineering and design firm" for the city's planned MLS stadium, according to Joey Garrison of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Based on "current language of a draft agreement, the contract fee would be valued" around $12M, which would come from $225M in "revenue bonds that the Metro Council in November authorized for the stadium project." Finalizing the contract with Populous is "still contingent upon ongoing negotiations between Metro attorneys and the firm regarding lingering business and legal terms." Meanwhile, the stadium has "fallen slightly behind its original timeline." Ingram Industries Exec VP & CFO Mary Cavarra said that designs for the stadium were "originally slated to begin in May." Cavarra: "The issue is right now we're 30 days behind, and if we don't get the architect started this month or next week with preliminary kick-offs of designs, we can't afford to go another three weeks or it will cause issues later on." Garrison notes the overall price tag of the MLS stadium is $275M when including an additional $50M in "future general obligation bonds that are to go toward infrastructure and site improvements at the fairgrounds" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 6/22).
