Frank Burke
AT&T Field is the home of the Chattanooga Lookouts.Chattanooga Lookouts owner Frank Burke plans to donate the AT&T Field stadium to River City Co., attorneys said, making a future deal for the sale of the team franchise more attractive for a potential buyer.
Attorneys J. Nelson Irvine and Mike St. Charles revealed Tuesday that Burke, who has been trying to sell the team franchise for nearly three years, would transfer ownership of the stadium to the local nonprofit. The announcement was made during a meeting of the city’s Sports Authority Board, which had been dissolved but was recently reconstituted. The board met to update the lease agreement among Burke, the city’s Sports Authority and River City.
River City officials said at the meeting their hope is that with a newly updated lease agreement, a potential buyer of the Lookouts would want to stay in Chattanooga and not move the team.
“We’re very interested in keeping the stadium and the team,” River City President Kim White said. “It’s a tremendous part of downtown.”
In 2000, River City transferred ownership of the land where the 6,362-seat ball field now sits to the city, which created a new entity, the Sports Authority of the city of Chattanooga. This allowed the sports authority to lease the land to Burke to build a privately funded stadium. In exchange, Burke received property tax exemptions. Burke and other owners spent $10.2 million to build AT&T field and relocate his team from Engel Stadium.