We need more information. That appeared to be the consensus of our local Tennessee lawmakers on a proposal from Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly via Chattanooga's state Sen. Todd Gardenhire to build the Chattanooga Lookouts a new stadium with a lot of help from us taxpayers.
It's a welcome pause. Perhaps more than just a pause, seeing as how the "negative" recommendation came after the guy carrying the proposal - Gardenhire himself - threw a curveball at his own bill calling for the state use a big chunk of our tax dollars to pay for a stadium whose ball club is owned by multimillionaires.
"I would recommend we would do this in order to have further discussion on whether or not to have a baseball stadium financed partially by the state in Hamilton County," Gardenhire told Senate Finance Revenue Subcommittee members Tuesday as he made the motion on the bill that deals with the sales tax issue. "I would recommend a negative recommendation."
After that, all five panel members, including Senate Finance Committee chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson, voted that way.
Like all things in politics, things can change. But for now there's a good bit of skepticism among not just the public (both of these editorial pages opined about better uses for our/your money) but also among our lawmakers.
And with good reason. The state already has allocated $35 million for a new interstate interchange in the South Broad District where the stadium, commercial and residential development would go. The sales tax help Gardenhire put on hold would provide about $110,000 a year in revenue to pay off bonds needed to build the project. And Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is seeking another $20.8 million in state money for the new stadium which would sit within the now vacant U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry property. Altogether we're talking an estimated $86.5 million - including $10 million for an expected "donation" of land.
No wonder there's a pause.
Ellis Smith, director of special projects for Kelly, says the stadium isn't just about the baseball team but could serve as a catalyst for more than $1 billion in development.
We get that. The Tennessee Aquarium was just such a catalyst, turning Chattanooga's riverfront and downtown from emptiness to thriving business. In the aquarium's first 25 years from 1992 to 2017, it had a nearly $3.3 billion economic impact on our community, according to the UT Center for Sustainable Business and Development.
But there is a difference: The small park around the aquarium received public funds, but the $45 million needed to construct the aquarium was raised privately, beginning with $10 million from the Lyndhurst Foundation, chaired by John T. Lupton, and another $11 million of Lupton's personal funds.
We think this pause for "more information" about the stadium is wise. But perhaps the idea needs more than "more information." Perhaps it needs quite a bit more Lookouts' pocket change.