Finley Stadium was two days away from the first Chattanooga Football Club game of the year when “the rug got pulled out from under its feet,” said Chairman of the Board Mike Davis at the Finley Stadium Board meeting on Tuesday. To prepare for that March 14 game, the stadium facility had been reactivated for the upcoming year. Just one event, a marathon had taken place prior to the day when all of Chattanooga was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, the stadium facilities had been sold out from March through Thanksgiving with no remaining availability.
Now, most events have been cancelled and are not expected to return and a few have been tentatively rescheduled. Re-opening the Market which was scheduled for this coming weekend, will not happen. Traditionally, the fourth quarter is the most critical time of the year for the stadium and when the most profits are made. There is no optimism that business will be recovered for that period of time, said Chris Thomas, executive director of Finley Stadium.
In addition to the losses incurred from rentals, there will also be revenue lost from parking and concessions. In the “four to six-week storm starting May 13, a quarter of a million dollars disappeared,” said Mr. Thomas. “Damage is severe, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
Mr. Thomas said when the stadium was closed, cuts were made quickly to reduce losses. Last year, Finley Stadium had 93 employees and at the time of the shut-down in May there were 58. Currently there are seven that are needed to keep the facility going. There are other unavoidable expenses such as utilities, which in March were $11,000 in comparison to $25,000 from last November, said Mr. Thomas. Facilities Manager Peter Turk’s team has clamped down and utilities costs cannot get lower because of meter minimums, said the executive director. There is also the on-going expense for insurance.
Parking revenue has declined from $30,000-$40,000 per month to $6,000, primarily due to disruptions of the corporate parking clients whose businesses were closed. Mr. Thomas is hopeful that the outstanding receivables from these customers will be paid. “We can’t cost-cut our way to profitability,” he said.
Between now and June 30, the stadium is burning cash at the rate of $30,000-$40,000 per month because it had been reactivated in preparation for business. Mr. Thomas secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan for the Chattanooga Market. Money from the federal government funding for that program ran out before the Stadium Corporation got $95,000 that it had requested, but Mr. Thomas is hopeful the fund will be refilled and the money made available in the future.
There is expected to be four to six weeks before events will be allowed at the stadium. The team led by Mr. Turk will take advantage of the situation to do repairs and make improvements on the venue. The board approved an amount not to exceed $35,000 for painting the stadium, which has not been done for 10 years. The money will be for rental of equipment such as lifts and safety harnesses, paint and materials. The work will be done by Finley’s employees.
For the past 10 months the kitchen area has been leased by Reef Kitchens for on-site food preparation for food delivery services. The stadium has been receiving $4,000 per month for rental of this space. Their lease agreement expires July 1. The board authorized Mr. Thomas to seek a leasing agent specializing in commercial kitchens.
The executive director is optimistic that the stadium will be able to see some return to life in mid-June. It is out of our control so we cannot make significant plans or adjustments, he said. We are doing what we can to preserve cash and take care of other things such as repairs that cannot be done while the facility is in use, he said.
Mr. Thomas said, "It will be in better shape afterward, but there is no doubt about it, we need activation."