South Broad Stadium breaks ground as public tours site

Members of the public touring the Wheland Foundry site on the day of the South Broad Stadium groundbreaking.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- After years of negotiations and political struggles, the South Broad Stadium has finally broken ground.

We have been discussing the effort to get development here at the Wheland Foundry for years.

The South Broad Stadium has gone through many political battles and the subject of concerns, however it has reached its construction stage after receiving approval from both the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County.

A large crowd got to take their first look at the Wheland Foundry site where the Lookouts’ future home will be.

This day has been a long time coming.

Lookouts owner Jason Freier said, ‘”It’s been 10 years in the making, we first met with Mayors Burke and Coppinger about this project in August 2014, this is huge.”

The urgency to get to this point increased over the past few years.

“In 2020 when Major League Baseball looked at restructuring, the city was potentially on the chopping block due to the caliber of our existing ballpark, but Major League Baseball really wanted to stay in Chattanooga and so did the Cincinnati Reds,” said Freier

The site could have taken a different road.

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly stated, “This could’ve been a strip mall, I mean really, and Gary and his partners could’ve done anything with this but instead this is going to be an amazing, amazing development.”

On the tour, fans got to see how the various factory buildings will be incorporated into the park, providing various amenities.

Andy Stone of Perimeter Properties explained, “The powerhouse which is the building over here on the left is, the powerhouse will actually be in the ballpark. We’re removing the back half of it so it will be on the inside, so from the outside, it will be the historic structure of the powerhouse which was built in 1880. Then the pattern shop will be where the food hall and food concourse will be as well as sort of multifunction and suite space.”

Stone added, “This is an icon that people drive by and they see it everyday and they wonder what it could be, and now we’re giving them a glimpse of the inside, and the vision of what it will become, and it’s really exciting to see the turnout today, and we can’t thank everybody enough for the turnout today, and celebrate this momentous day with us.”

The project is slated to cost a $112 million dollars and first pitch is slated for 2026.