When it opens in '22, the 30,000-seat venue will be the largest soccer-specific stadium in North AmericaHOK
MLS expansion club Nashville SC's soccer-specific stadium will cost between $50-70M "more than initial estimates, but taxpayers will not be on the hook for the rising cost," according to a front-page piece by Nate Rau of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. The project will now cost between $325-345M, and Nashville SC ownership will "foot the bill for the expenses" that are over the $250M in public financing they "received to build the stadium." The 30,000-capacity venue will be the "largest stadium built for soccer in North America." Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayre said that the "increased cost is not a cause for concern," as it had been expected that the "cost estimate would change as more detailed architecture and design work was completed." Seats will "fold up to accommodate hardcore fans who wish to stand and more casual fans who want to take in the entire soccer-meets-music party the club is hoping to produce." Construction will "soon begin." The stadium will have "six lounges for fans to gather and around two dozen box suites, the exact number of which has not yet been determined" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/23).
NOT THIS TIME: In Nashville, Yihyun Jeong noted the Metro Council "rejected a councilmember's attempt to halt demolition at the Nashville Fairgrounds" that will make way for the MLS stadium. The resolution "failed in a 10-17 vote Tuesday night." The Save Our Fairgrounds group had "won its appeal several weeks ago to overturn a Nashville judge's dismissal of the group's lawsuit to stop construction of the city's MLS stadium, with an appeals judge sending the case back to lower court last month." The coalition "sued the city over the MLS stadium plans in September, arguing the construction at the fairgrounds and the elimination of 3,500 parking spaces would make it impossible for the Nashville Flea Market to operate on the fairgrounds" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/21).
