Art or soccer.
That's a decision that Chattanooga officials face concerning the future of the 110-year-old Montague Park.
On Monday, supporters of the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park said they plan to try to convince city planners to see their vision to expand to an adjacent 13-acre tract on the property. The parcel would hold new art pieces, a 2,000- to 3,000-seat amphitheater and a welcome center in an $8 million to $10 million project.
"My opinion is that we're pro-Sculpture Fields," said Anne Rushing, who directs the nonprofit's more than 30-acre site at the park that includes an array of art and green space. "We're not opposed to anyone else. We do have a vision of expanding to the whole park."
But to do so, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission will need to put off recommendations that the Chattanooga FC Foundation use the space next to the Sculpture Fields. That nonprofit wants a long-term lease to build soccer fields, sand volleyball courts, a pavilion, restrooms, and parking on the 13-acre tract at the park at East 23rd and Polk streets.
"We're very excited," said Krue Brock, who directs the nonprofit foundation that is an after-school and summer soccer program established in 2015 by the Chattanooga Football Club. "There are a lot of neighborhoods we're hoping to serve to do the project at Montague Park."
Late last year, the foundation's plan was named the winning one in a request for proposals put out by the city for use of the Montague Park parcel, beating out the Sculpture Fields bid.
The RPA staff also has recommended the Planning Commission on Monday accept a plan for the lease agreement between the foundation and the city. The matter will go on to the City Council for a final decision in a few weeks.
However, advocates for the Sculpture Fields, which opened about five years ago, and the city's arts community aren't giving up.
Board member Warren Barnett said the CFC Foundation's use may violate terms of the deed created over a century ago when Mary Thayer Montague, widow of Chattanooga banker T.G. Montague, donated the 49 acres for a park. Barnett said there's been talk about the professional Chattanooga FC team using it as a practice field.
He said the deed states that the land not be used for for-profit purposes.
"The property was deeded to be for general public park enjoyment," the Chattanooga businessman said. "It was never deeded for the purpose of private enterprise."
He also said the deed states the property can't be subdivided.
"It's supposed to be used in its entirety," Barnett said.
In addition, he claimed that if there's going to be youth soccer at the park, children will climb on the art pieces and there's a huge legal liability.
"I don't see the Sculpture Fields and soccer and youth soccer being compatible," said Barnett, who added that he has sent letters to the City Council, Mayor Tim Kelly and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger.
The matter is more interesting in that Kelly is a co-founder of Chattanooga FC, and he was chairman of the club until he stepped down from that post after his election as mayor last month.
But Richard Beeland, the city's deputy administrator for economic and community development, said the RFP was issued during Mayor Andy Berke's administration. Also, he said, a team of people reviewed the proposals last year before making a decision near the end of 2020, well before this year's mayoral election and runoff.
Beeland said "there was no connection with [Kelly] through the process."
Brock said there's "a complete firewall" between Chattanooga FC and the foundation. He said the club probably wouldn't play at the Montague Park site and doesn't believe it will practice there.
Brock said he doesn't think there's any deed issues, noting he has talked to the Montague family and "they're excited about this."
He said the programming of the three planned soccer fields at Montague would be similar to what the foundation manages at Highland Park Commons in the Highland Park neighborhood. Brock said around 1,000 people a week play there.
"It's very active," he said. "We felt it's at maximum capacity for three years."
Brock said there's a deficiency of public rectangular fields in the city.
"It will fulfill a need that's not there," he said about the multimillion-dollar makeover the foundation is planning at Montague. Brock said the city would not be expected to commit any funds and the work would be financed through donations to the foundation.
"I honestly think this will drive a lot more participation," he said. "We'll be good neighbors."
Rushing said she expected the Sculpture Fields plans, too, would be privately funded or with federal grant money. She said that while Sculpture Fields supporters will make their case on Monday, they'll work with the CFC Foundation even though they have separate visions.
""We love what the CFC Foundation does. If the CFC Foundation becomes our neighbors, we can work together, but our original vision did not include athletic fields," she said.
For a number of years, the park was a softball haven. In 2003, the park was mothballed because of the seepage of methane gas from an old landfill at the site many years earlier.
In 2008, the state and the city reached a deal on how to return the park to a usable condition as a three-foot cap of dirt and grass was placed across the affected area. Beeland said the city and state monitor the site.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.