CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A new downtown parking garage will be built next to F&M Bank Arena thanks to $14 million in state funding.
Among funding approved in this year’s Tennessee state budget was the $14 million grant for Montgomery County to build the public garage, which will be directly across the street from the under-construction F&M Bank Arena, according to Deputy Speaker Curtis Johnson, R-Clarksville.
The Hand family donated the land for the garage at the corner of College and First Streets, Johnson told Clarksville Now.
The garage will help alleviate parking issues downtown, particularly with the 6,000-seat arena being built next door. “We need it in the worst way,” Johnson said.
The garage will be on the same block as the Hand family’s Riverview Inn and next to their planned Riverview Square. The parking garage is shown in those project’s plans, which tout it as a 724-space garage. Those plans also include the inn becoming a Hilton DoubleTree.
Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, pushed for the garage funding. He told Clarksville Now that having this garage on one side of downtown with the city’s new planned garage on the other will go a long way to improve parking in Clarksville.
“The geography on both of these parking garages is optimal, with one being next to the Roxy and the other being next to the arena,” Powers said. “It makes it a perfect fit for Clarksville’s emerging downtown.”
County Mayor Jim Durrett thanked the legislators – Johnson, Powers and Rep. Jason Hodges – for bringing home the funding.
“This is another big step in the revitalization of our community,” Durrett said.
Details about the public parking garage are still being worked out, but Montgomery County spokeswoman Michelle Newell said there are no plans to contribute additional funds for it, or for the county to manage the garage.
Oliver Hospitality, which is handling communications for Riverview Square, said they are not yet ready to release details.
Other Clarksville funding
Other Clarksville and Montgomery County-specific projects receiving funding were:
- $43.5 million in additional education funding to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System as a result of TISA.
- $35 million to support facility expansion at Nashville State Community College at Clarksville.
- $20 million for Wings of Liberty Museum.
- $12.2 million in capital appropriations for Austin Peay State University.
- $800,000 for Centerstone Military Services Inc.
- $750,000 for the second year of a three-year cybersecurity program at Austin Peay State University.
“Montgomery County had a good year,” Johnson said.
Both Powers and Johnson backed the new Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act. This new funding formula takes effect in 2023, and it includes an additional $1 billion investment in K-12 funding, focusing on the individual needs of students, rather than relying on ratio components and district averages as the state’s Basic Education Program (BEP) has done, according to a news release from their legislative offices.
“This new funding formula will transform the academic trajectories of students and enhance Tennessee’s recent progress in improving overall educational outcomes,” Johnson said in the release. “By focusing on the needs of individual students, we will ensure all children have the resources necessary for successful futures.”
