Greer Stadium May Not Be a Great Choice

Michael Cass lifted up some speculation offered by Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors this morning about moving the Flea Market and Expo Center to Greer Stadium should the city come up with another option for the Sounds. On the surface it sounds intriguing (to use Cass’s word) but there are lots of problems. The biggest that Greer Stadium is just that — a stadium — and would not easily be adapted to a set of buildings under roof that could meet the requirements of current Expo Center users. What no one is talking about, however, is the current ownership of the land (it is controlled by Metro Parks) and the fact that the site is one of the great historical sites in town — Fort Negley, something that has been overlooked by our city in the past and needs continued development and restoration. Nashville has ALWAYS been bad about destroying our heritage in pursuit of economic development, and the cost of trying to retrofit Greer Stadium into something that it was never meant to be will likely lead to greater cost than simply transforming the existing Fairgrounds property into something that is better integrated into the surrounding community.