Finally the community is getting more of a look at the proposed new Lookouts Stadium plan that calls for using a lot of our tax dollars – nearly $60 million based on a rundown in Thursday’s paper – in the name of catalyzing “development” in the South Broad area of Chattanooga.
We’ve said before there are better things for us taxpayers to subsidize than a third sports stadium within 3.5 miles of the city’s two existing sports stadiums – AT&T field where the Lookouts now play and Finley Stadium where the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga team and the Chattanooga FC play.
Neither of those existing stadiums has spawned anything like the “over $1 billion in development” that our city and county mayors and Chamber of Commerce officials say is possible for the estimated $89 million to $94 million proposed stadium on the blighted, vacant Wheland and U.S. Pipe foundry sites.
Downtown did not grow any new business or even much tourism from Lookouts games at the current stadium on Hawk Hill. In fact, that stadium piggy-backed on the Tennessee Aquarium.
Finley Stadium hasn’t grown much for us either, unless you count the pavilion across the street where we have we have an open market on perhaps half of the weekends of the year and a few breweries/restaurants.