Tennessee Titans’ officials want to renovate Nissan Stadium, but those renovations would likely cost $600 million, and now people are talking about simply constructing another stadium altogether — possibly with money from taxpayers.
Nashville’s finances aren’t in the greatest shape.
Beacon Center President Justin Owen addressed the matter on Friday.
“Beacon has no objection to the Titans building a new stadium, but we have long opposed — and will continue to oppose — using taxpayer funds to build their stadium or any other team’s,” Owen said.
Beacon is a Nashville-based free-market think tank.
The Tennessee Star asked Titans’ spokeswoman Kate Guerra about the matter on Friday. The Star specifically asked whether team officials would take taxpayer money for any new stadium, and why Nashville — in debt — should possibly subsidize another facility?
Guerra said no Titans’ officials have opted to build a new stadium — yet. She also said she could not answer The Star’s specific questions.
Guerra then sent us a pre-written statement that said Nissan Stadium has more infrastructure needs than Titans officials originally thought. Construction crews, she said, built the stadium’s structural frame with concrete instead of steel. The mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems need replacing.
“All of these new revelations are adding up and moving a renovation price nearly double what we initially anticipated,” according to the statement.
“When you consider the present and future needs of our current stadium, it’s possible that another path, such as a new, modern stadium that could better serve its community’s needs, might be a more responsible option to explore.”
The statement then said “with all this in mind, we need to take a step back and re-evaluate if a stadium renovation is the most responsible option forward and explore other paths.”
Staff for Nashville Mayor John Cooper did not return a request for comment Friday. None of the 41 Nashville Metro Council members responded to our questions about the Titans’ stadium either.
Council Member-At-Large Steve Glover said last November that Metro officials were increasing the city’s debt too drastically and that Nashville was “the number one city in America with the highest debt per capita of the population.”
Glover also warned of a “massive 26 percent to 34 percent property tax increase” within two to three years.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
