Members have been named for the new City-County Sports Authority that will issue bonds for the new Southside Stadium.
They are Randy Smith, Matt Peterson, John Shearburn, Mitch Patel, Rudolph Foster, Edna Varner and Ann Weeks.
The members will choose a chairperson at their initial meeting.
They were selected by the mayor and county mayor.
The group is to issue $80 million in bonds for the stadium that will be on nine acres at the U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site. The stadium is estimated to cost $72 million with $6 million for capitalized interest to cover while the facility is under construction.
Brent Goldberg, city chief financial officer, said debt service should be around $4.5 million per year over the 30-year life of the bonds.
He said the Lookouts are legally bound to pay over $1 million per year for a stadium lease.
The Lookouts will also maintain the facility, which is estimated at $1.5 million per year.
Officials said the developers are due to cover infrastructure costs.
Charles Wood of the Chamber of Commerce said the old foundry sites are the first thing that visitors see when they enter the city from the west, giving a negative connotation to Chattanooga.
He said it is also important that local officials act quickly to get the stadium "catalyst" in place while developers are showing strong interest in the 120-acre site.
County Commissioner Tim Boyd raised a number of questions, including the possible high cost of remediation of the old industrial site.
He said $1 billion in local development had taken place in recent years "without a stadium." He said, "If Jim Irwin (master developer) thinks this is a Disney Land, then let him have it. He can put up a ferris wheel."
Commission Chairman Sabrena Smedley said, "This could be a hub for our community." She said in just focusing on the stadium piece "we're not looking at the big picture."
After visiting a similar stadium project in Columbia, S.C., she said, "The stadium is just the start" for nearby development that is envisioned to rise up around it.