Sports authority hears South Bridal Stadium construction, remediation and finance update

The Sports Authority Board received updates on the South Bridal Stadium project and the authority—s financial statement during its monthly meeting. Paul Boylan, an accountant with the City of Chattanooga, presented the authority—s progress financial report and said the statement reflects actual transactions through Jan. 31, 2025 and will be updated at each board meeting.

"This is not its final form," Boylan said of the financial report, noting the document currently excludes certain items (the TIF and final team contributions will be added as a footnote going forward) and that budget-number lines will be added in future updates. He also said the bond sale is the most notable feature on the statement because it directly affects cash, revenue and expenses; the board was told there are roughly $3.3 million in pending invoices that have not yet been reflected in the paid-out totals.

Bill, a project representative for the stadium development team, told the board that site-preparation milestones required by the site-preparation agreement were all completed on schedule as of Jan. 23 and that concrete foundations for the third-base building and other deep-foundation work are in place. "All 3 of those had been completed as of January 23," he said.

Work has begun on renovations to the powerhouse and pattern shop, and environmental testing and remediation have been carried out on those buildings. Bill said lead-paint remediation in the powerhouse and pattern shop is complete; additional soil testing continues for material excavated from foundations and other removed materials. The board was told a total of 96 truckloads (about 2,400 cubic yards) of material met the criteria for special-waste disposal and were transported to a special-waste landfill.

Project funding was described as a $125,000,000 total package that includes the authority—s bonds and loans, team contributions (loan and escrow), site-prep agreements and $10,000,000 in city-funded public infrastructure. Bill said the city has appropriated the first $5,000,000 to the sports authority in the FY25 budget, with the remaining $5,000,000 expected in FY26; the $10,000,000 public-infrastructure portion will be dedicated to the city and is expected to become public assets (street and stormwater/wastewater infrastructure), meaning the sports authority—s net asset portion would be about $115,000,000 once those assets are transferred.

The board also received an update on disadvantaged-business-enterprise (DBE) participation for the EMJ construction contract. The EMJ contract totals $76,000,000 and includes a 30% DBE goal (roughly $22,900,000). Bill said EMJ has awarded $9,379,000 to DBEs, with approximately $8,100,000 in awards currently "in progress" as firms complete certification paperwork; that places the reported participation at about 22% so far.

Bill said the project team received comments from the Tennessee Department of Transportation on the traffic-impact study and is reviewing those comments with the developer and city staff. He also said the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) remediation contact, Troy Keith, has been working with the developer and the team and that TDEC has been satisfied with remediation work to date. The chair signed and transmitted a successor letter to TDEC confirming the board's intent to comply with remediation expectations.

Looking ahead, Bill told the board he expects the first structural steel to be erected later this month. Board members asked for future financial reports to include budget columns so the board can compare actuals to appropriated budgets; staff said budget numbers will be added in future reports.

The board approved the minutes for the Dec. 12, 2024 monthly meeting by motion, second and voice vote earlier in the meeting.