Plans to renovate the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in downtown Nashville, Tenn. have hit a snag in the city’s local politics scene, as community members have expressed their concerns about the proposal ranging from its impact on taxpayers to the noise level. According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Speedway Motorsports Inc. is seeking approval on a development agreement to renovate the speedway and a lease agreement for Bristol Motor Speedway to operate the track for the next 30 years.
Those two contracts have been agreed to by the mayor’s office, but they must now be approved by the Nashville Board of Fair Commissioners and the Nashville Metro Council. While the approval of those contracts would clear the way for NASCAR to be brought back to the Nashville Fairgrounds — which hosted NASCAR Cup Series races from 1958 to 1984 — public meetings about the project have been met with mixed opinions.
According to reports by WTVF and WKRN in Nashville, those on the opposing side questioned specific details of the plan, particularly as it pertained to the potential noise impact as well as parking issues, as have been seen at the new MLS stadium that neighbors the racetrack. Jason Bergeron, a former member of the Board of Fair Commissioners, argued that the proposal offered minimum protections and threatened to bring the “big out-of-control downtown party into the heart of our neighborhoods.”
“You cannot thrive on a day when the racetracks are there,” one woman said. “It’s legal for me to run my chainsaw all day, but how would they feel if I actually did that? It’s not very neighborly.”
“Cars everywhere, hours-long traffic jams, parking in our yards, in our alleys — it’s not acceptable,” another resident said.
While the opposing contingent shared their arguments, so too did advocates of the proposal. A particular sticking point was that local taxpayers will not responsible for the costs of the project — which include a repave of the track, a grandstand capacity upgrade to 30,000, and the installation of a noise reduction wall.
The deal that Speedway Motorsports Inc. is pursuing includes nearly $100 million in bonds, which will be paid off over a 30-year period primarily by revenue the racetrack generates. The project has been granted $17 million by the state of Tennessee, while Bristol Motor Speedway will put $2 million into the design phase.
“When the Cup Series comes here, it’s going to be a huge event. City-wide, downtown, neighborhoods — everything is going to get involved in this. The peripheral things that happen around that is good for the community,” local resident Norm Partin said.
The return of NASCAR’s national touring series to the Nashville Fairgrounds, the second-oldest continually operating racetrack in the United States, has proven to be the white whale of the sport’s re-entry into the Nashville market. While the Fairgrounds currently hosts local racing divisions as well as some regional touring series, the past two years have seen NASCAR’s top divisions race across town at the Nashville Superspeedway in nearby Lebanon.
The next meeting concerning the Fairgrounds project will take place on January 10, when a Fair Commissioners Board Public Hearing is held.