Finley Stadium gets interim management

Finley Stadium officials have reached across Reggie White Boulevard again for operational help.

Chris Thomas, the executive director of the Chattanooga Market at the First Tennessee Pavilion, and his Public Markets Inc. staff will run the 20,668-seat facility on an interim basis until an executive director can be found. Finley Stadium has been without an executive director since Feb. 28, when Paul Smith resigned after more than three years in that role.

Smith was hired to operate Finley after serving as the Chattanooga Market’s general manager from 2008 to 2013.

“Chris and his team at the Chattanooga Market are coming in for a temporary basis while we search for an executive director,” Stadium Corp. board chairman Gordon Davenport said Friday. “They have a history with us. We have a relationship. He was available and willing to jump in on short notice.

“They understand venue and event management. It’s a great fit for us.”

At the most recent Stadium Corp. board meeting late last month, Davenport did not give an “artificial date or deadline” as far as naming Smith’s full-time successor. That has not changed for Davenport, who is not putting a timetable on Thomas and his staff, either.

“We’ve talked about 30 to 60 days, and obviously it could be longer,” Davenport said. “At this point, that’s all we’ve discussed.”

Board member Ryan Crimmins stated in last month’s meeting that the stadium had an operating profit of $16,000 through February for this fiscal year but that expenses are up roughly $267,000 from this time last year and that revenue is up only $177,000 by comparison.

“It’s not a good trend, and we’ve got to fix it,” Crimmins said.

Thomas bought the Chattanooga Market, which operates on Sundays through the spring, summer and fall, in 2007. He and his staff since have added outdoor markets at the Tennessee Aquarium and in Collegedale, changing the overall business name to Public Markets Inc. two years ago — after becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit operation — to reflect the broader scope of what it does.

“For the last 10 years, Finley Stadium has always shared their resources and staff with us to help us succeed,” Thomas said, “so this is our chance to give back to them.”

Staff writer Barry Courter contributed to this article.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND Galen Riley leads the Chattahooligans in a chant during a Chattanooga FC match last spring at Finley Stadium. The venue has also hosted matches for the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams over the past two years, and it’s the home for UTC football.