A petition has gone out to stop Nashville Fairgrounds from being the site of an MLS stadium.
Editor's Note: Major League Soccer could choose two new teams as early as this week, and Nashville might not make the cut. Either way, a lawsuit has been filed against the proposed plans at Nashville's fairgrounds.
Nashville’s city council, mayor and fair board all want to see a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium built on the city’s fairgrounds, but a group of persistent naysayers have filed a lawsuit, saying the preliminary plans will not compensate the Fairgrounds Nashville.
Nashville is one of four cities vying for two slots for a MLS team. Cincinnati, Ohio, Detroit, Mich. and Sacramento, Calif. are the other cities that have bid for a team.
“We think that we’re confident that our current (fairground) uses and a soccer stadium can coexist,” said Laura Schloesser, executive director of the fairgrounds.
If chosen by the MLS, Fairgrounds Nashville will sport a $225-million soccer stadium that seats 27,500 built on 10-acres of the fairgrounds — a proposal that was unanimously approved by Nashville’s Metro Council on Nov. 7.
MSL offered $25 million toward the stadium if Nashville is picked.
Some of the old buildings on the 10-acre site will have to be torn down in order to build the stadium, and Schloesser feels it would completely spruce up the fairgrounds that’s badly in need of renovations and repairs.
Each year, the fairgrounds hosts the Tennessee State Fair. It also hosts a monthly flea market, both of which will continue if the MLS stadium is built, Schloesser said.
“We need investment desperately. (The fairgrounds) hasn’t seen it in decades and decades,” Schloesser said.
The fairgrounds also has an old-school race track that will get a facelift.
“It’s a very cool piece of our history that we want to invest in, too,” Schloesser said.
The fair board has five members, all of whom approved the stadium plans.
“I’m very excited,” said Ned Norton, president of the fair board. “If (the stadium) doesn’t happen then we have to move forward with other plans. We still need new buildings.”
A group called Save Our Fairgrounds filed a lawsuit on Nov. 29, alleging that the proposed stadium will not fairly compensate the fairgrounds and that the MLS will pay only 99 cents a year for the 10 acres of space it will use.
“We’re a citizen-activist group,” said Rick Williams, secretary of Save Our Fairgrounds, a not-for-profit group that raises funds to protect the fairgrounds’ interest, which is how they paid for the lawsuit.
“We have always been proposing upgrades to the fairgrounds,” Williams said, highlighting that giving land to MLS for so cheap is concerning. “Leasing land for a dollar a year to develop whatever they want...We filed a lawsuit.”
Many details about how the fairgrounds would financially benefit from the deal have not been ironed out, Schloesser said.
“There are a lot of details to work out. The scope of the improvements will change based on whether or not we get the stadium opportunity,” she said.
The MLS could decide as early as this week on which cities land the two open slots.
The fair board feels the stadium is the best plan to spruce up the area as of yet.
“We’ve been waiting for the right plan… and then a bid for a soccer stadium came up,” Norton said. “Of course, not everyone wants to see the fairgrounds change… (but) the facility is in desperate need of change. I think everyone believes that Nashville is ready for it.”
On the site where the soccer stadium would set are some sheds and cinderblock buildings used for various exhibitions and rental opportunities.
Schloesser said those buildings would be rebuilt as modern structures. She does not know, however, if the soccer stadium will allow the fairgrounds to use exhibition space in or on the stadium grounds.
Additionally, parking lots are also included in the preliminary plans for the stadium.
“Having another building that hosts the public for events is not out of line for what we do,” Norton said.