CHATTANOOGA | Entertainment | Arts | Sports | Museums | Attractions - Developments

[MidTenn1]

I'm trying to organize some of the development news in more rational topics. Chattanooga is starting to put on its big city breeches and is adding more opportunities for entertainment and recreation on a regular basis. I will drop some of the recent news about these particular subjects in this topic, but for now I will report below some recent news about a new entertainment venue.

[MidTenn1]

THE SIGNAL

The owners of several musical venues around the country will be opening a 1,500-capacity music hall in April next to the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo  facility in the Southside neighborhood.  The owners, Marathon Live, also own the Marathon Music Works in Nashville which brings some big acts into their 2,000-capacity (standing room only) venue and attracts major acts. It has been a home to some Nashville local and on the rise talent such as Meghan Trainor, so there are some capable people behind this development.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press....

Quote

When The Signal reopens at the Chattanooga Choo Choo later this month, it will be what organizers always wanted it to be — a place capable of hosting both live music concerts and events such as weddings and corporate meetings at the same time and in separate spaces.

.....

The venues are being operated by Marathon Live, which has The Hawthorn in St. Louis; The Hall in Little Rock, Arkansas; The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri; Marathon Music Works in Nashville; and soon a new facility in Jacksonville, Florida.

This is a great addition to the music scene in Chattanooga. Now if someone would just build some recording studios here.

My slide...

[MidTenn1]

LOOKOUTS BASEBALL STADIUM

Also today, as alerted by the Times Free Press, the final new double A baseball stadium location has been decided.

As noted elsewhere, the Chattanooga Lookouts baseball team will move to a brand-new stadium in order to keep their partnership with Major League Baseball as a Double A minor league team. The current stadium was determined to be inadequate for a MLB minor league team. The new stadium will check all the required boxes and be located in the SouthBroad District near the old foundry, but not on the foundry property as proposed earlier.

My photoshop. 

The newly designed stadium rendering...

From the CTFP...

Quote

Developers of the planned Chattanooga Lookouts stadium have chosen its footprint on the old U.S. Pipe/Wheland Foundry site, picking a location enabling use of more of its historic buildings into the design, officials said Thursday....

...

Irwin said at a meeting of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Sports Authority that some of the 5,000 to 6,000 permanent seats will be incorporated into one of the existing foundry structures on the first-base line.

...

In addition, Irwin said, plans are for one of the planned new buildings around the stadium near Interstate 24 to offer a signature new welcoming gateway into Chattanooga for motorists coming from Nashville.

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by MidTenn1

[smeagolsfree]

16 hours ago, MidTenn1 said:

THE SIGNAL

The owners of several musical venues around the country will be opening a 1,500-capacity music hall in April next to the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo  facility in the Southside neighborhood.  The owners, Marathon Live, also own the Marathon Music Works in Nashville which brings some big acts into their 2,000-capacity (standing room only) venue and attracts major acts. It has been a home to some Nashville local and on the rise talent such as Meghan Trainor, so there are some capable people behind this development.

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press....

This is a great addition to the music scene in Chattanooga. Now if someone would just build some recording studios here.

My slide...

Side note here. Back in the day I worked in the building closest to Market St up on the third floor when I worked for the Choo Choo doing one of the many jobs I did there. The building in question was being used as ball rooms at the time. I remember one NYE weekend I went to the bank with 3-armed security guards and deposited well over a half million in cash alone from the weekend events. Not counting checks and CC receipts. Mind you this was in the early 90's.

[MidTenn1]

Another entertainment venue has opened one block off Rossville Blvd south of downtown and I-24.  All I know is what's on their Facebook page. It will seat 1,200 people so it should be suitable for some high-end acts.  My slide with a little personal note on the bottom.

 

There was an article in the CTFP which alluded to the need for a movie studio in Chattanooga. No, Chattanooga needs some recording studios where the Nashville and Atlanta talent can come for a quiet week and make some great music.

Edited April 30, 2023 by MidTenn1

[MidTenn1]

The Chattanooga Red Wolves, a USL League One soccer club, have recently expanded their stadium to 4,000 seats. They are one of two soccer clubs in Chattanooga playing in the third tier of US Soccer as shown on my poster of Tennessee soccer clubs ranked according to level of the league as determined by the US Soccer League System and shown on my homemade poster here.

 

Now that the Red Wolves are on the expansion list for a USL Womens Super League, they will likely have to expand the stadium again. No details were given in any press reporting. This is a big deal in Chattanooga sports history. Teams from Dallas, Oakland, Phoenix and D. C. will come to town to play. 

A card with pictures of the current stadium.

EDIT: May 19,2023; The Chattanooga Times Free Press is reporting that the Red Wolves stadium will be enlarged to 6,000 seats and the current synthetic turf will be replaced with natural grass. Report here.

Times Free Press on Twitter: "The Chattanooga Red Wolves SC plans to expand the seating capacity of CHI Memorial Stadium to hold more than 6,000 people while also converting the playing surface from synthetic turf to natural grass. https://t.co/yK6gfgw1Hp" / Twitter

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by MidTenn1

[MidTenn1]

Some awesome renderings of the proposed Lookouts baseball stadium have been released.

Wowsers. I know where my season tickets will be.

It looks to be like one of the best stadiums in all the minor leagues.

[MidTenn1]

On 7/18/2023 at 6:46 PM, MidTenn1 said:

Some awesome renderings of the proposed Lookouts baseball stadium have been released.

Wowsers. I know where my season tickets will be.

It looks to be like one of the best stadiums in all the minor leagues.

A new aerial rendering of the ballpark and some of the possible surrounding development has been revealed.

Also, from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.....(not free)

Quote

Construction of the Chattanooga Lookouts' new ballpark is slated to start in January, with completion still set by April 2025 for the opening of the team's baseball season, the latest timeline shows.

Also, as an architect and construction manager sharpen the final cost for the Chattanooga stadium, Knoxville's planned new minor league ballpark has come in with a $114 million price tag, up from a 2020 estimate of $65 million.

 

[BnaBreaker]

1 hour ago, MidTenn1 said:

A new aerial rendering of the ballpark and some of the possible surrounding development has been revealed.

Also, from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.....(not free)

 

Wow, that would make for one hell of an introduction to Chattanooga for those coming from the northwest... for that to literally be the first thing you see in a city is something else.  That is something I've always loved about that approach into Chattanooga that is so incredibly unique due to the topography, and something you really don't find anywhere else in this country that I'm aware of.  You just round the bend of the river and BOOM you're practically in the middle of the city.  Everywhere else you've got to drive through suburban areas in order to get to the core.