CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – As construction site work begins on Montgomery County’s Multi-Purpose Event Center, many people have raised questions. Here are the answers to some of the more common questions that have come up.
1. How is MPEC construction being paid for?
In November 2019, the County Commission voted 17-4 to borrow $130.7 million for the construction. County Mayor Jim Durrett placed the price tag for the project at approximately $105 million, including the already purchased property, with the rest of the funds being available for bond issuance and other unforeseen expenses.
An amendment by Commissioner John Gannon places a requirement on the project such that the building’s design cannot be approved until the county has secured contracts with Austin Peay as a primary tenant and the Nashville Predators (Powers Management) to manage it.
2. Is the MPEC taking money away from other projects?
No, for the most part. From the start, Durrett has hinged his strategy for getting the project approved on promising that it will be paid for – in both its construction and operation – through separate revenue streams: a seat user fee, sales tax generated inside the facility, the sale of naming rights, facility tenant fees, the hotel/motel tax, a portion of PILOT revenue, and internet sales tax revenue. While most of those revenue streams wouldn’t exist without the MPEC, those last three could theoretically go to different county projects.
3. Will the MPEC be usable by all members of the community?
According to Durrett, the MPEC is being built with versatility in mind. The building will be able to hold all kinds of private and community events. While prices have not been released for rental of MPEC spaces, it can be assumed that, due to the size and scope of the project, there will be wide variety of options.
The MPEC will have five floors featuring an array of meeting spaces and conference halls. The primary arena is expected to seat between 4,900 and 6,400 people and will be able to accommodate a broad range of events. The secondary arena will include the APSU practice court and a second, public ice sheet. Optional partitions will enable multiple events at one time.
4. What will be done to alleviate downtown parking?
Plans to add two parking garages to downtown have been announced in the past year. The first parking garage is to be built on property between the MPEC and Riverview Inn as part of a larger, private mixed-use project. The second would be a city-owned parking garage on the east side of Public Square, the current location of Clarksville’s Downtown Market.
5. What is APSU’s commitment to the project?
Some critics have insinuated that Austin Peay is dissatisfied and might back out of its commitment as primary lease holder.
APSU spokesman Bill Persinger, said that’s not true. “The comments regarding APSU or the APSU Board of Trustees being dissatisfied with the project are false,” said Persinger.
APSU will sign their 30-year lease with Montgomery County at a special, live-streamed signing ceremony Friday, Oct. 2, at the Dunn Center.
6. Wouldn’t Frosty Morn have been a better place?
Others have suggested that another location, notably one farther from downtown, would better serve the MPEC’s purpose. The most suggested alternative has been the site of the Frosty Morn building, located off of University Avenue and Kraft Street, adjacent to the former Vulcan Corp. site.
The most notable problem with this suggestion is that Frosty Morn is owned by the City of Clarksville, and the MPEC is a county project. While it may have been possible to for the county to purchase the property from the city, there is no guarantee they would have agreed to sell. City Mayor Joe Pitts has long voiced his aspirations for using the Frosty Morn site as a future community center. The city recently began demolition on the site, bringing down the iconic Frosty Morn smokestack.
Some have suggested the 30-acre private Vulcan site be used for the MPEC, but it is being bought by the Charles Hand family for other purposes.
Chris Smith contributed to this report.