Sounds stadium parking garage won't be ready this season

Two and a half months before opening day at the Nashville Sounds' new baseball stadium, Metro officials are searching for places where fans can park their cars.

That's because an $18 million parking garage to accompany the city-financed stadium won't be ready this season, presenting complications for the inaugural year of First Tennessee Park.

The lag will prompt Mayor Karl Dean's office to soon unveil a temporary parking plan that relies on off-site parking and shuttles to and from the stadium. It will seek to limit possible traffic spillover into the nearby Germantown, Salemtown and Hope Gardens neighborhoods.

The 1,000-space garage — paid for by Metro and built by the state of Tennessee on state-owned land — is part of an agreement between the two governmental entities and the Sounds. The plan is for state employees to eventually use the garage during the day and for stadium-goers to use the garage at night and on weekends.

But the state, which will own the four-story garage, only recently broke ground on the project and state officials estimate it won't be finished until Oct. 31.

"It simply took a long time to work out all the plans and the details," said David Roberson, director of communications for the Tennessee Department of General Services. "It happens sometimes on construction projects."

Dean and Sounds owners are set to open the still-under-construction stadium for a media tour on Wednesday. The stadium is on pace to be ready for the April 17 start of the season, according to the mayor's office. Besides the parking garage, some ancillary development — including a $60 million residential and commercial project to be led by the Sounds ownership team — also hasn't broken ground.

That Sounds mixed-use development is a key piece of the financing plan the Metro Council approved in December 2013 to retire $65 million in stadium-related debt. Property tax revenue generated by the development — estimated to be $750,000 a year — and other revenue streams are to go toward the stadium's debt. Sounds officials have insisted the project will happen, but they aren't contractually obligated to follow through.

"First Tennessee Park remains on schedule to be ready for opening day on April 17," Dean spokeswoman Bonna Johnson said in a statement. "Surrounding developments, including a parking garage under construction by the state and the kinds of private investment we expected this project to generate, will not open until a later date.

"Metro Government and the Nashville Sounds are working together to develop a detailed traffic and parking plan so that fans will be able to navigate the construction activity taking place around the ballpark. We will be sharing that plan in the coming weeks, and it will include information on how to get to and from the ballpark, available parking lots, shuttle options, street closures and more."

Metro Sports Authority Executive Director Toby Compton said the Sounds, in conjunction with the Downtown Partnership, are exploring all parking options in the Sulphur Dell area. This includes both privately owned and state-owned parking lots in the area, he said, as well as the parking garage at the Metro courthouse. The ballpark is also next-door to the Nashville Farmers' Market, which has a sizable parking lot.

"We're trying to figure out how far will someone walk, and then complement that with shuttles," Compton said, adding that the city will not be encouraging on-street parking in nearby neighborhoods.

Neighborhood concerns

Residents in those neighborhoods — growing rapidly thanks to a slew of new residential development — will be watching with particular interest to see how Metro addresses the parking situation.

"With all the development in our neighborhood, parking is just something that we are always in discussion about," said Lindsey Cox, president of the Salemtown Neighborhood Association. "Of course with the baseball stadium coming in and the garage not being complete, for [some] people in the neighborhood, it is going to amplify the problem."

The Sounds, which in September became the triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics, have made the new First Tennessee Park the centerpiece of their season-ticket sales push. The stadium replaces aging Greer Stadium, which the team has used since 1978. The lack of a parking garage adds a hurdle.

"Will it be perfect?" Sounds owner Frank Ward said of the parking plan. "No, but it will help alleviate the parking issues. And we're working hand-in-hand with the city in coming up with that and making sure that we get it out to all our fans in sufficient time.

"Part of the plan with the city is to minimize the inconvenience of residents in Salemtown and Germantown and to keep [the parking] all south of Jefferson Street."

As for construction of the stadium, a final price tag is still unclear. The stadium was originally projected to cost $37 million, with land acquisition adding another $23 million and capitalized interest an additional $5 million.

But the cost of the stadium is likely to rise following new upgrades not included in initial designs, including a guitar-shaped scoreboard that mimics the one at Greer. Metro officials have said it won't affect the city's bottom line because the team has agreed to help pay for those enhancements.

Outside the budget, construction of the ballpark has spurred a projected $5 million in additional city spending to cover new water lines, electrical lines and paving that isn't factored into the project's price tag. Metro has also reached a preliminary agreement with Piedmont Gas Co. to give the company 124 acres of city-owned land in Bordeaux in exchange for relocating a gas line discovered in the stadium's footprint during construction.

At issue

An $18 million, state-owned parking garage with 1,000 spaces won't be ready for the inaugural season of First Tennessee Park.

First Tennessee Park

What: New stadium for the Nashville Sounds

Where: Sulphur Dell

Status: Under construction. April 17 target opening. 1000-space parking garage won't be ready this season

Cost: Projection of $37 million, with land acquisition adding another $23 million and capitalized interest an additional $5 million.

Final cost: It could go higher. The stadium has spurred an additional $5 million in needed spending on water lines, electrical lines and paving work.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.