The new owners of the Nashville Sounds are trying to accomplish what the former owner of the team couldn't do: pull off a move to a new downtown ballpark, with the help of local professionals and architects.
The new owners of the Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) are trying to accomplish what the former owner of the team couldn't do: pull off a move to a new downtown ballpark.
It's no secret that the Sounds have been working with the city on a new-ballpark plan — last fall Nashville Mayor Karl Dean put forward a list of three potential Sounds ballpark sites — but the particulars of how the Sounds are planning to lobby the city for a new facility are emerging. The emphasis will be on bringing a ballpark to the downtown Thermal site (the same location the previous Sounds ownership coveted), but the Sounds won't be working on the proposal alone: the owners have brought in a local connected attorney (Tom White), a local PR firm (Seigenthaler Public Relations) and a local architecture firm for initial design (Hastings Architecture). At this point bringing all local players is probably a smart move for the out-of-town owners.
That MFP Baseball has a strong preference for the downtown Thermal site isn't a surprise: the downtown location is considered to be a prime spot for development, close to the downtown night life and a new convention center. What the new Sounds owners need to do is bring on a development partner and put the ballpark in the midst of a mixed-use development. That this game plan sounds suspiciously like what the previous regime tried to do with Cordish isn't surprising: the difference is the emphasis on the local.
RELATED STORIES: City puts forward three potential Sounds ballpark sites
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