Finley Stadium is set to receive a seating upgrade, as wider seats will be installed in some areas of the home of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football.
Stadium officials have confirmed that a plan is underway to replace sections of seating with wider seats. Through this project, Finley Stadium will see many of its 19-inch wide blue seats replaced with new seats–also blue–that come in at 21 inches wide.
The project is slated to cost just over $289,000, and will lead to a slight seating capacity reduction at Finley Stadium. When discussing the reason for the project, officials noted the aging condition of the seats that are being removed. More from the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
“The blue seats are past their use,” [ Stadium Corp. board chairman Gordon] Davenport said. “We are replacing four sections and will have fewer of those seats in order to right-size them with the demand. That said, there is nothing keeping us from growing our premium seat sections over time.”
Bench seating will make up most of the difference from the premium-seat sections that are not being replaced, with improvements to handicap access factoring into that as well. [Finley Stadium executive director Chris] Thomas said the new seating plan will result in a total drop of 256 seats, which would take the stadium’s capacity from 20,668 to 20,412.
The cost of the project will be $289,204, according to Thomas, including $20,000 for the handicap access that board member Mike Davis described as “long past due.”
Once it is complete, the project will result in premium seats being available in four sections of Finley Stadium, including 106, 205, 206, and 207. In addition to hosting UTC football, Finley Stadium is also the home of soccer’s Chattanooga FC (Premier Development League). The Times Free Press reports that the seating replacement project is not expected to be completed in time for Chattanooga FC’s friendly on February 3, but could be wrapped up by the beginning of the club’s regular season.
Image courtesy Chattanooga Athletics Department.