New Focus At Finley Stadium Will Be As Concert Venue; Gordon Davenport Is New Chairman Of Stadium Board

  • Tuesday, June 28, 2016
  • Gail Perry

The year has been a good one for Finley Stadium, said Executive Director Paul Smith at the June board of directors meeting Tuesday afternoon. The gross profit is up $1.3 million, he said giving credit to his staff for the increase. The largest growth this year came from food and beverage which is now handled in-house under the management of Hayley Bates. Alcohol sales have also contributed to the increase in revenue with the control that the stadium now has from owning its own beer and alcohol licenses.

 

Savings have taken place in operations costs since venue management was taken over by the stadium headed by Brian Wright. His department performs maintenance and repairs that can be done in-house. Mr. Wright also has implemented energy savings techniques that have prevented loss and saved money. The most recent example was installing a temperature control system in the field house. The cost was $5,000, but in just two months, there has been a savings of $800, said Mr. Smith. Now TVA and EPB are being pursued for grants to put this new system into the whole building.

 

Another significant addition to the stadium complex is almost complete. The Benwood Foundation provided money to rehabilitate an old kitchen next door to the First Tennessee Pavilion into a commercial grade kitchen that can be used by small businesses, caterers and chefs. This project was spearheaded by Ms. Bates. Inspections are the only items left to be done before it can open. It is expected to be ready on July 1. The Stadium Corporation will receive $2,000 each month in rent from this new venture.

 

Income from parking was greater than planned during the year, and is expected to grow. Mr. Smith said that as downtown is expanding to the south and getting closer to the stadium, parking has the potential to produce a revenue stream without costing the facility very much. In addition to event parking, for example, he is in negotiations with The Social to use the lots for overflow parking.

 

Finley Stadium now has three partners that are contributing to its success, said Chairman of the Board Bryan Patten. The Chattanooga Market, starting out under Mr. Smith’s guidance, has become the place to be on Sundays and continues to grow. The market, along with UTC and The Chattanooga Futbol Club, that utilizes the facilities when the field would otherwise be idle, have also contributed to the success. He said that Finley Stadium and Chattanooga are becoming regionally recognized as a soccer power house and for UTC football.

 

Mr. Smith said until now his focus has been to create a full calendar for the stadium facilities, turning it into a venue for many events and activities. His next focus will be to bring music to Finley Stadium. He and Venue Manager Brian Wright have attended a continuing education management school, where they have learned among other things about risk management, booking, scheduling and marketing. It also has created relationships with the other 400 people in the same businesses. Some of the networking will help them build knowledge of how to change a stadium into a concert venue.

 

Regarding the stadium as a concert venue, Mr. Smith said with the success of other music venues in Chattanooga that the time is right and that it will be a priority in the coming 12-18 months. An anonymous donor has given a $200,000 gift to buy a cover for the field to protect the new turf for those events. Mr. Smith is looking for a used cover, but said they are available to rent until one is found.

 

The Friends of Finley two-year fundraising campaign has also been very successful. The city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County together contributed a half million to the stadium this year, recognizing its value to the area. Chairman of the Board Patten said that as of the end of May, $822,225 has been raised, including money from the city and county and the $200,000 anonymous gift. Of that, $442,000 is targeted for stadium improvements.

 

The executive director said there will be a lot of things to fix in the upcoming year. The stadium is 19 years old and some of the equipment is original. While things are looking up, he said, there will be tremendous challenges. Until now, things have been fixed as problems occurred, but “we are running out of band-aids, said Board Member Mike Davis. Rather than continuing to fix air conditioners and water heaters that have started to fail, they will be replaced. Roof replacement over the concession area is expected to cost $36,000, and caulking that was started last year will be on-going.

 

There have been requests to convert the enclosed glass in the skyboxes into windows that open. Mr. Davis has been investigating the best way to do this, and estimates that the cost will be around $27,000 for a 12-seat skybox. Structural constraints will dictate how it can be achieved, but as of now, sliding windows appear to be the choice. “The board agreed to do one box first as a trial. It is important that safety measures and esthetics of the stadium are maintained. When the first trial window is completed and deemed satisfactory, it will be presented to owners of the boxes. Mr. Davis said that if a skybox owner is willing to foot the bill, they can get the windows that open. Seats in the center section of the stadium are planned for replacement and Mr. Smith said that work on the windows should take place at the same time to minimize time that the stadium will be shut down.

 

Discussion also took place at the meeting about the solar panels that are above the north parking lot. A 10-year contract with TVA allowed use of the lot for the panels in return for paving and striping the parking area.  That contract has expired and re-striping the lot and adding lighting will be requested in return for continuing use of the lot by TVA.

 

Mr. Patten said he has served as chairman of the board of directors for 10 years. He said he was excited to announce a pathway for turning the job over to board member Gordon Davenport, by electing him as vice chairman for the next six months. If things go as anticipated, he said, at the first of 2017, Mr. Davenport will become chairman of the Stadium Corporation. Mr. Davenport said that for now he would rather work internally to create better controls as opposed to scheduling meetings. Systems allow better control, he said, for outcomes of better reporting to the board and for transparency. In the past two years, things going on at the stadium have become more complex, he said. During the six months, he plans to work very closely with Paul Smith and his team. Mr. Patten will continue to serve as a board member.
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