Finley Stadium Introducing Luxury Tents Under Scoreboard For Moc Football

  • Tuesday, July 25, 2017
  • Gail Perry
Chris Thomas
Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas, new executive director of Finley Stadium, gave his first management report to the stadium’s board of directors Tuesday afternoon. He said that the facility is in “quite good” shape and that all sorts of projects are underway, with little idle time.

 

The Chattanooga Football Club has just finished its season and now Finley is preparing for the start of UTC football, with the first game played in Chattanooga on Sep.

16. A new feature this year will be “luxury tent” accommodations to be set up under the scoreboard. This first year, there will be four of the 12x18-foot tents offered that will each have the capacity of around a dozen people. They will have small tables and a full bar, skybox catering, private TVs and Wi-Fi spots and will be available for $11,000-$12,000 for the season.

 

A new website is under development that will post items such as events that have been scheduled, parking information, sky box ordering, stadium policies and security measures and a count-down clock for the start of UTC football, he told the board.

 

The challenge for the facility, said Mr. Thomas, is parking, which is sufficient for CFC but not for larger events.

 

A new management team has been put in place. Ethan Nelson is the Stadium Operations Manager, who will be in charge of maintaining the stadium campus facilities. He is also working on finding new technology to become more energy efficient by reducing water and electric bills. He is also researching different ways that Astroturf can be used for additional events without damaging it. Multi-year upgrades are planned for the 20-year-old sky boxes, so that all the work will not be done in the same year.

 

Sarah Hooper, the new foods and beverage manager, has been creating new menus for the sky boxes and luxury tents. She has also found additional catering opportunities that will mean $100,000 in sales during times when the stadium is usually idle.

 

Hayley Church, a long time employee at the stadium, has changed jobs and is now the guest services manager. In addition to bringing in new catering events, she is also in charge of human resources. She is in the process of completing an employee audit and developing a new human resource system by creating employee handbooks.

 

Katie Nelson is overseeing overall project management and contracts.

 

Board member Ryan Crimmins presented a preliminary financial report which showed the campaign fund has $952,000, and the Stadium Corporation has $59,000 in operating income this year. Final financial information will be known after the audit has been completed.

 

The board of directors approved a resolution concerning the property known as The Lookout Building that was built in 1875 and which was part of the Ross-Meehan foundry. It is adjacent to First Tennessee Pavilion and across the street from the stadium. The building is now owned by the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County. A section of the roof collapsed about three months ago and the city responded quickly by putting a fence around it until a decision is made about its future. The resolution that was passed indicates the stadium corporation’s support for redevelopment of the property that will be guided by Cornerstones, Chattanooga’s historic preservation group.

 

The building will be donated to Cornerstones which will sell it and give the buyer a time frame to finish the development. Arch Willingham, board member of Cornerstones, said he expects the building to become a new restaurant or bar.

 

A separate agreement will be made regarding parking for that property because parking is at a premium in the vicinity. Developers of the building will be required to pay the stadium for parking and, if it is needed on event days, the rate will be “event-day” rates. This same “parking template” is already being used for some other businesses surrounding the stadium campus.

 

Chairman of the Board Gordon Davenport Jr. said that plans are for Finley Stadium to be managed as a well-run business. Use of the facility for more events and activities are a goal. He said that a review of activities that are already going on will take place for the purpose of generating increased revenue. This increase will be used to continue improving the facility. “We have exciting things ahead of us,” he said.

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