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Contributed commentary from David Shelton, County Commission, District 21:

The F&M Bank Arena will open soon. This exciting new hub for the downtown area is generating conversation and anticipation not only throughout Montgomery County, but the entire region. That hasn’t quieted any of the criticism for the project, and Clarksville City Council member Wallace Redd recently wrote an opinion piece critical of the arena, published on Clarksville Now.

The article, “Creation of F&M Bank Arena by county government was ‘missed opportunity,’” missed a few opportunities of its own. Redd argues that “we all know” the multipurpose event center, now the F&M Bank Arena, will be a “net liability.”

First, there are a few things we need to understand about Montgomery County government and capital projects like this. Every dollar that the county spends must be tracked, traced and audited. The full budget is audited by the state Comptroller’s Office, and every county budget must be balanced by law. This includes all debt service. Implying that we can’t pay our debt is just false.

The continued call for a “private sector” company to undertake the arena project sounds sensible. The reality is that privately funded arenas are generally built by someone that owns a sports team. With the Dunn Center at Austin Peay State University being limited on how well it can continue to serve as a basketball arena after five decades, a new facility would be needed. Enter the F&M Bank Arena. Rather than partner with a major team that doesn’t exist, the MPEC became its own opportunity for Montgomery County.

The arena itself was built with multiple revenue sources that will directly go to its funding. These streams include the rent from APSU and the naming rights from F&M Bank to put their name on the building. Those contracts alone are worth millions. And that’s before even the first ticket is sold. Then, there are ticket sales, concessions, seat fees and several other streams, but none of it comes from residential property taxes.

But why downtown? Why not a field out by the mall? Or the old Vulcan site? Since this would be a home for Austin Peay Basketball, going too far beyond the APSU footprint would hinder students from being able to support their own team. Its current location is directly across the street from APSU property, with its own bookstore only a block away.

Ask every one of the business owners whether they’re looking forward to thousands of potential new customers whenever there’s a big event. And when we consider the fact that nearly every single business downtown is locally owned, the benefits become clear. These are almost all mom-and-pop operations, and their families live in our neighborhoods. They know that the opportunities are there.

That’s just not necessarily the case when we go toward the mall. And by bringing visitors into downtown, it literally opens up the entire community to visitors — and their spending money! Now, remember those multiple revenue streams for the arena? They include hotel taxes, still more dollars for the arena payments.

We are told by naysayers that we’ll never get big … well, anything. No big sports. No big concerts. Yet, when we realize that the arena will be managed by Sabretooth Sports & Entertainment, the same company that manages the Bridgestone Arena and its bookings, we are in very capable hands. The new F&M Bank Arena website will launch soon. Fun fact: The current F&M Bank Arena web page is a landing page on NHL.com. Talk about opportunity!

The simple reality is that none of this happens in a vacuum. Both the City of Clarksville and the county are building large parking garages. That $28 million garage from the county? Half of it is paid for by a state grant, and the property was donated. Over 500 spaces in one. More than 700 in the other. Not only are we getting an additional 1,200-plus parking spaces downtown, but the arena is generating something even more important: major private investment.

Already since Jan. 1, we have seen jaw-dropping announcements like the new 10-story Millan Center and groundbreaking on the new Riverview Square. The newly open Shelby’s Trio complex is another stunning multimillion-dollar private investment. The combined investment of all of these projects far eclipses that of the arena, and this is just the beginning of what we will see in the coming years. All of this is because our County Commission took the opportunity to lay the very cornerstone for all of this downtown growth: the F&M Bank Arena.

Calling this a “net liability” ignores the reality that the money spent on the arena is just one of multiple columns on the spreadsheet. It has already proven to drive major investment and new business — yes, opportunities — for every single downtown merchant. And when it opens early this summer, we’ll see firsthand that the future of downtown Clarksville is anything but a missed opportunity. I, for one, can’t wait.

David Shelton