The way Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly apparently sees it, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Since Knoxville got $13.5 million in state money in 2021 for a new baseball stadium, relocating the team back from Sevierville, the Scenic City should get no less, the mayor said in a recent letter to Gov. Bill Lee. In fact, the mayor would like $7.3 million more to clean up the U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry brownfield site where the stadium would go.
Fairness argues both stadiums would be built to make their respective city downtown districts more attractive and welcoming to visitors. And Chattanooga can add to the argument that it may help keep minor league baseball – rumored to be on the Major League Baseball chopping block here in 2020 – in the city.
We’re just dreaming here, but we can envision the 141-acre South Broad District foundry property where the stadium would go as a sort of mini Battery Atlanta, the entertainment venue area built around Truist Park, the Cobb County, Ga., home of the Atlanta Braves. One can imagine hotels, restaurants and shopping, with a multi-use stadium for the Lookouts just one of the attractions in the area.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga mayor seeks $20.8 million in state money for new Lookouts stadium)