NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Construction of the Major League Soccer stadium, where Nashville SC will play, is on hold after Mayor John Cooper took office and did not sign the demolition contract to get the project underway.
Demolition of the old fairgrounds facilities to make way for the MLS Stadium was originally set to begin on October 1, seven weeks ago, but as of November 19, no demolition has started, and no construction equipment is anywhere in the vicinity.
On October 21, the Mayor's Office revealed Mayor Cooper did not sign the demolition contract, instead taking time to look into the financing and site infrastructure related to the stadium construction.
Cooper did say previously that he planned to go forward with the stadium project, and council member Colby Sledge, who represents the Fairgrounds, said he is not concerned about the delay and expects the project to go through.
The plan was for Nashville SC to kick off at Nissan Stadium until their new stadium is built, with their first match as an MLS team scheduled for this upcoming February against Atlanta, but the details of the future of the MLS stadium are currently unclear.
It's unknown whether the deal could fall through, whether this delay will impact any contracts with construction crews, or when any construction could potentially begin.
A request for information from the Mayor's Office went unanswered for this story, and MLS officials did not respond to inquiries about Nashville's MLS stadium.
