Updated with clarification that the County Commission will still need to approve the change. 

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Changes are now being made to how the parking garage across from the F&M Bank Arena will operate once construction is complete.

The 724-space garage is being built on land donated to the county by the Hand family and is being funded through a $14 million grant from the state. As Montgomery County leaders had previously feared, those funds may not be enough.

Riverview LLC was supposed to lease the land and garage from the county upon completion, but those plans have changed. At an Industrial Development Board meeting on Wednesday, Buck Dellinger, president and CEO of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council (EDC), said rising costs of concrete and steel were responsible for the decision.

“Because of the way that the county was ultimately going to have to secure the funding and the operations for this, the county has elected to take over the parking garage entirely,” he said.

The measure will require approval by the Montgomery County Commission.

Dellinger explained that they are still in negotiations with Riverview LLC on how the county will take over the plans, in addition to the funding details.

“They won’t fund it. The county will fund it, and the IDB and the EDC will ultimately be the owners of that (the garage) on behalf of the county. We will help manage that to pay the amount of debt that has to be carried on that.”

He said officials are still working on the details of how the county will operate the facility, but that the county will have full control of it once it is complete.

“We’re just going to take it over and own it entirely and be responsible for any cost overruns,” he said. “It’s going to be done based on our decision and not on someone else’s decision on our behalf.”

Despite the change in management, the garage is still slated to be open by December 2023.

Clarification: The Montgomery County Commission will still need to approve taking over the parking garage. The article has been updated.