Finley Stadium Executive Director Chris Thomas on Tuesday gave what he called a “financial report that wasn’t particularly good.” Like all the other large capacity venues in the Chattanooga area, the Stadium is struggling because of the limited operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. All activity was stopped just after the stadium complex had been readied for business during the most profitable time of the year.
Mr.
Thomas applied for and received a $91,470 paycheck protection program loan for small businesses from the government, which will keep the doors open and the greatly reduced staff intact for a couple of months. Only essential staff remains and utility charges are now at record lows. This is illustrated by the electric bills in April and May for $3,000-$3,500 as opposed to bills from the fall of between $12,000 and $17,000. But Mr. Thomas said, “We can’t cut our way to profitability.
In April, the loss was $46,000, in May it was $32,000 and more of the same is expected for June. The insurance policy for the stadium campus has just been renewed for a three-year term with the cost being flat. The Mocs Sports Properties regular fee payment is due on June 30, but they have notified the stadium it will be 60 days before they will make an attempt to do so, and if received, it will be the minimum payment of $55,000.
Also, maintenance issues still occur. Facilities Manager Peter Turk has discovered a failure in the sprinkler system in the pavilion which will not allow the valves to be completely turned off. That repair will cost in the tens of thousands of dollars, said Mr. Thomas. “We can’t float the stadium with no revenue,” said Mr. Thomas. The fiscal ear ends on June 30 and the yearly audit process usually begins in August. It should be easy this year, he said because there basically was no activity in the spring.
"Unless there is increased activity, the long-term viability is in jeopardy,” said the executive director. "We can’t continue like we are today," he said, and "it isn’t surprising that other large venues are in the same situation.”
This was the annual meeting when the budget is normally presented for approval. Preliminary budgeting is now hard to do because of unknowns, said Mr. Thomas, so it has been put off for 60 days, hoping more will be known after the stadium begins to slowly reopen.
Down time has been taken advantage of for improving infrastructure such as painting, pressure washing, and replacing tile. The facility looks awesome, fresher and newer, said Mr. Thomas. The work has all been done by stadium employees.
Reactivation is needed and the stadium officials, in collaboration with managers of other large venues in the area, Governor Bill Lee, the City of Chattanooga, the Hamilton County Health Department, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, and the Tivoli Theatre Foundation have created a reactivation policy known as the Chattanooga Gathering Guide. It is meant to be a document of best practices boiled down from all the many sources of advice and requirements for dealing with the coronavirus. It is viewed as a way to let event organizers know how the stadium and other large locations will open and operate and to also make customers feel more comfortable. The stadium has gone beyond the basic requirements in the policy to add a Safety Officer which will be Sara Hooper. She will be in charge of keeping up with the quickly changing mandates and be a liaison with the Hamilton County Health Department.
The good news, said Mr. Thomas, is that some special events that had been scheduled for spring and summer have shifted to fall. As things slowly reopen, two events that will be held are the Back to School Bash given by the Department of Education which has modified it from past years by converting it into more of a drive-through event, and The Margarita Festival will be held at the end of August. Other events remain in a tentative status.
The Chattanooga Football Club is now into its third week of practice at Finley Stadium, under the rules requiring social distancing. They plan to take to the field in July but may have to play without fans. League start up will be August. Options to ensure safety are being considered such as assigned seating and ingress and egress. The assigned seating will allow contact tracing of people who sat nearby if a case of COVID-19 does occur, said board member Tim Kelly.
UTC football will be resuming voluntary practice on June 22 and must report back to campus on July 6. Other sports will be integrated at a later date, said Scott Altizer, deputy athletic director. Plans are being made for how to keep people safe. A plan is being worked on to move people in and out of the stadium alternatively, and seating of family groups will be spaced from other groups of people. He said that UTC hopes to play with fans in the stands. He said they are planning for the best scenario and will see how it goes.
The public markets have been open around five weeks at a 20-25 percent capacity. Melissa Lail said she is confident that regulations are being followed and customers are being responsible. Vendors sign questionnaires prior to entering and all sales are cashless. The River Market is where most artists are being put. She hopes to be able to grow how the markets are operating in a manageable way.
As food and beverage manager, Sarah Hooper said that she is doing some catering. One customer is the Chattanooga Convention Center which cannot call their own employees who have been laid off back temporarily. She has been catering small events there. That work has had the added benefit of giving work to the stadium’s seasonal staff. Two Ironman competitions were moved from May to August. and she will be feeding 2,500 people in August and 4.000-5.000 at the September event. As the Chattanooga Market reopens, the Market Bar will also be opening. And a luncheon for Chattanooga public works employees was moved from May to July.
For UTC football, food service will be different and may be based on the number of people present. Food sold in the concourses will be straightforward, said Ms. Hooper, with different foods that can be individually wrapped. Food served in skyboxes can no longer be served from a buffet.
The slate of officers for the Stadium Board has been selected but not yet voted on. The recommendations are that Mike Davis remains in the chairman’s position, Ryan Crimmins as Vice Chairman, Gerald Webb will serve as Secretary and Molly Cooper will be the new Treasurer.
Chairman of the Board Davis ended the meeting by thanking the staff for their work while just trying to keep things going. He said it is harder when people are not in the facility. And he thanked all the partners. He said that a year ago, "the forecast of where we thought we would be at this time was different from where we are."
The next scheduled meeting of the Finley Stadium Board will be Aug. 18.