There’s another run at a new Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) ballpark, as Populous is hired by Metro to determine the best sites in Davidson County for a new facility.
If this sounds familiar, it is: the previous owners of the Sounds retained Populous to come up with a ballpark plan. The result was a new facility pegged for what was termed the Thermal Plant site in downtown, where a ballpark would be part of and partially funded by adjoining development.
And while that site remains in the running, the notion of pairing it with a larger condo/retail/office may not be. Such larger developments are harder and harder to come by, even for major-league-level facilities. Indeed, the future of a new Sounds ballpark just be as a ballpark, albeit one with the potential to help spiff up a neighborhood (as could be the case at the old Suphur Dell site).
But things are certainly in the preliminary stages. Populous’s Bruce Miller is tasked with determining the best ballpark sites. After that, the debate will center on where the ballpark should be built and who will pay for it. We’re a long, long ways from any shovels hitting the dirt.
The Sounds currently play at Greer Stadium, which opened in 1978.
RELATED STORIES: Nashville seeking community input for ballpark site; Nashville once again moving forward on new ballpark
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