A lease to Chattanooga Football Club to build soccer and rugby fields on land adjacent to the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park was approved by the Regional Planning Commission on Monday.
The lease agreement went through a Request for Proposal process twice and the winning bid both times was the CFC. The first time was in August 2019 but because of delays due to COVID, it was felt that to be fair, the RFP should be re-bid which was done in October 2020.
The review committee again recommended the FC Foundation.
The proposal was sent to the Montague family, which many years ago donated the land for a park. The family gave their approval, allowing the project to move forward.
On behalf of the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park, Bill Robinson, secretary of the board, asked that a decision be deferred for the board to be able to discuss the lease with the Chattanooga City Council. He said the board had only learned of the lease from the news.
He also asked for the lease term to be reduced from 40 years to five. The Sculpture Fields occupy 33 acres of Montague Park and the organization wanted to have the option of expanding into the adjacent 18 acres.
Krue Brock, executive director of the CFC, told the commissioners that he is a fan of the Sculpture Fields and believes that the athletic fields will be a complementary use. He said the goal is it to be one integrated, safe park.