CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville City Council voted 8-4 Friday, giving final approval of the purchase of 300 acres of land off Rossview Road near Interstate 24 Exit 8 for use as the Clarksville Family Athletic Complex.

Mayor Kim McMillan said the 300-acre purchase would accommodate a proposed Tennessee State Soccer Association state soccer park and a baseball stadium complex to attract a Prospect League summer collegiate baseball team, both of which are key components of the plan to develop the Athletic Complex using increased sports tourism-related revenues.

The complex would also provide new outdoor recreational facilities for use by Clarksville families, youth leagues and teams.

The TSSA facility will have the ability to schedule tournaments that would draw thousands of teams and families to Clarksville for overnight stays and related tourism spending. The baseball stadium complex, which would include additional baseball and softball fields, would also be used by local teams and attract regional tournaments and events.

Earlier this month the Council voted 7-6 against purchasing a larger 409-acre tract for the complex. The proposal was then reduced by 100 acres.

The ordinance was first considered by the City Council’s Finance Committee on Thursday, which gave its approval with a 5-0 vote. Immediately after the finance panel’s meeting, the City Council, in a special called meeting, approved the ordinance 8-5 on first reading.

The roughly 300-acre tract approved Friday would not exceed $4,083,000, plus reasonable acquisition costs and fees. The purchase price of the larger 409-acre tract considered May 3 was about $6 million.

The new proposal reduces the size of the City-owned athletic complex and reduces the purchase price by nearly $2 million, while preserving the economic development potential of the plan in which increased sports tourism-related tax revenues would offset costs of building the athletic complex.

NEXT STEPS

On Friday, Mayor McMillan said the next step after Council approval of the ordinance will be to close on the property, a legal process which usually takes at least 30 days.

With the land purchase in place, the City will continue to negotiate toward formal contractual agreements with the Tennessee State Soccer Association and National Sports Services, the marketing and development firm representing the Prospect League.

Concurrently, the City will work with Lose & Associates, the project engineer of record on the Athletic Complex capital project, to expand the company’s existing contract.

The City is scheduling meetings with the Regional Planning Director to begin the annexation process, which ideally would be coordinated with concurrent requests from the City and adjacent commercial property owners.

Mayor McMillan said she has kept the potential partners informed about her plans to move the project forward with a new land purchase ordinance.