An inside look at Clarksville’s new events center

While most individuals associate Nashville with Tennessee, Clarksville, home of Austin Peay State University, was named the fastest-growing city in the state for the second year in a row. The population of Clarksville is increasing quickly, and new infrastructure is being built to accommodate. One of the newest hubs of the city, F&M Bank Arena, recently held its grand opening.

Skanska recently completed our F&M Bank Arena project, a $104 million, 254,000 square-foot multipurpose event center in Clarksville. The arena was built by Montgomery County accompanied by an agreement with Nashville Predators (SS&E) to operate the facility.

(Photo credit: Jordan Powers Photography)

"Working on the F&M Bank Arena Project was both exciting and challenging,” says Assistant Project Manager Jansen Fuller. “Our preconstruction and operations teams worked together to navigate through COVID, material escalation, and increased lead times to deliver a very unique and diverse building to the city of Clarksville.”

The arena accommodates a sports and entertainment complex, practice facilities and meeting rooms. It holds 5,500 people and will host sporting events such as NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s basketball and ice hockey, including for Austin Peay State University, and other concerts and events.

In addition to the main arena, the events center also includes a secondary sheet of ice for various skating activities. Currently, there are 3v3 hockey games set to take place here soon.

Practice spaces, locker rooms, offices, box suites, retail and multipurpose zones are among other amenities incorporated within the space.

Building the arena and its amenities was a rewarding part of the project, but our team was also lucky enough to help the Clarksville community.

During the building of the complex, Skanska spent nearly $6 million with local businesses and volunteered with Manna Café Ministries—sorting food to be distributed to those in need in Clarksville and Montgomery Counties.

“I’m proud to be a part of this team and proud to give the city of Clarksville a place for locals. Soldiers and families stationed at Fort Campbell can also enjoy the arena for music, sports and family entertainment,” explains Jansen.

For Superintendent Cody Johnson, this project reminds him of his family. "This was the first time I took part in a project that not only serves the community but is in the same community that I live in. As a new father, it made me excited and proud of the work we put in knowing that down the road, I will get to bring my son to fun events and ice skating at F&M Bank Arena."

Enjoying reading about this project? Check out our recent blog on our Durham Bulls Athletic Park project in Durham, North Carolina.