Metro is moving forward with a long-discussed plan to transform 46 acres of asphalt, concrete and gravel at The Fairgrounds Nashville into a park and green space, injecting new public uses into the city-owned property south of downtown.

Eight multiuse soccer fields, a 1.3-mile greenway, a dog park and other amenities are planned for the underutilized, flood-prone part of the fairgrounds on the site’s south end that is flanked by Brown’s Creek.

In addition, the plan calls for moving the pit of the auto racing Fairgrounds Speedway, which currently sits near Brown’s Creek, to the opposite end of the track. The plan does not alter other buildings and facilities on the 117-acre fairgrounds.

Mayor Megan Barry’s administration intends to submit a proposal later this month to the Metro Stormwater Management Committee for variances needed for the project. The city also is finalizing an agreement between the parks department and fair board for the new green space.

The goal is to begin construction on the park after the annual Tennessee State Fair in September.

Architect Kim Hawkins of Hawkins Partners Inc. discussed the plan at Tuesday’s Board of Fair Commissioners meeting. The overhaul would remove large swaths of impervious surface parking and restore vegetation and trees on the floodway and flood plain portions of the fairgrounds, which has operated near Nolensville Pike, Craighead Street and Wedgewood Avenue for more than a century.

Among the goals, Hawkins said, is to make the park part of a larger I-440 greenway network and begin to address environmental contaminants at Brown’s Creek, which is on the state’s 303(d) list of impaired waterways.

“We feel like that as we move through this process, and begin the restoration process, that it is going to make a significant impact on Brown’s Creek,” Hawkins said. “It’s a really huge thing to be able to provide this acreage into our parks system."

The finalizing of the parks plan comes as Barry and a team of investors led by businessman John Ingram are working on a financing plan for a new Major League Soccer stadium on the fairgrounds site. Meanwhile, auto racing operator Tony Formosa is pushing for upgrades and a long-term lease to operate the long-debated speedway — a formula he says could lead to NASCAR races to return to the fairgrounds.

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The parks plan is to be funded from $15 million in Metro dollars that was earmarked for fairgrounds upgrades in Barry’s capital spending plan last year. Around $12 million was set aside for the demolition of dilapidated buildings and other property improvements and $3 million for recreational soccer fields.

Barry spokesman Sean Braisted said the mayor’s 2017-18 capital spending plan will include another $3 million for soccer fields and the Brown’s Creek greenway.

The new fairgrounds greenway is to largely follow the path of Brown’s Creek, snaking its way through the fairgrounds from Bransford Avenue to Nolensville Pike.

The new dog park, designed as a smaller one-acre “urban dog park,” is to be built at the corner of Bransford Avenue and Craighead and would be modeled off a recently built dog park at downtown’s riverfront.

“This has been one of most requested items in this neighborhood,” Hawkins said.

Three of the soccer fields would be full regulation length with the ability to be divided into small youth-size fields. The other five fields would be geared solely for youth.

The primary vehicle access points into the fairgrounds would be maintained. But the plan is to overhaul the access way from the pit into the speedway into a new “greenway bridge” along the 1.3-mile route.

"That part of the (fairgrounds) footprint hasn't been utilized really for much of anything," said Metro fair board Chairman Ned Horton, who said he likes the parks plan. "I think we're taking some underutilized pieces of property and turning it into something that the neighbors and citizens can enjoy."

Along with the acres of asphalt and concrete to be removed, the plan is to also eliminate 0.8 miles of fencing.

The plan calls for 237 permanent parking spaces and allows for 1,400 temporary parking spaces during major events at the fairgrounds. New picnic pavilions and restroom facilities are also part of the park plans.

The relocation of the speedway’s pit will move it to a portion of the fairgrounds where Metro Nashville Public Schools previously parked its buses.

Nashville-based Hawkins Partners Inc. is routinely hired for Metro parks projects, including Riverfront Park and Ascend Amphitheater, Cumberland Park, the downtown Public Square and the future Gulch-SoBro pedestrian bridge.

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