KNOXVILLE

TENNESSEE

With the intention of bringing Minor League Baseball back to Knoxville, the City of Knoxville and Knox County started talks with Boyd Sports to build a multi-use, publicly owned stadium. In the final month of 2021, the city and county approved the plan to move forward with a new multi-use stadium. The stadium will host the AA team of the Chicago Cubs and serve as a catalyst for redevelopment in East Knoxville.

As part of this redevelopment, GEM Community Development Group, the private development partner to Boyd Sports, will undertake a major private development to complement the stadium.

Led by team owner, entrepreneur and successful businessman Randy Boyd – who has provided the land needed for the ballpark – the development group plans to rejuvenate an area of Knoxville that’s been overlooked for decades. GEM derives its name from East Knoxville’s historic Gem Theatre, a gathering point for the Black community that opened in 1913 and closed 50 years later.

The multi-use stadium will host the Smokies and other baseball events, concerts, festivals and even football and soccer. In addition, the stadium will include facilities to host business meetings, conferences, receptions, holiday parties and other year-round events. With the stadium facilities and a public plaza as a gathering place, it is anticipated the stadium can host hundreds of events a year. GEM's private development is anticipated to include residential buildings, restaurants and other entertainment and commercial uses.

Funding to build the 7,000-capacity ballpark will come through a Sports Authority jointly formed by Knoxville and Knox County, with support from Knoxville and Knox County. The cost estimate in 2021 for the stadium was $80.1 million, up from $65 million in 2019 because of the rising prices of steel and other materials due to COVID-19 pandemic-related inflation. The 2022 price has increased again as the economy remains on a rollercoaster, and all parties are working out final numbers.

However, a $13 million grant awarded in 2021 by the State of Tennessee reduces the amount that would have to be borrowed to pay for construction to $65.2 million, keeping the project on the original financial track with Boyd now willing to front a construction loan to get started in 2022 to address the latest cost. The stadium will be publicly owned and will be leased to the team on typical industry terms.

In 1921, nearby Caswell Park hosted the first professional baseball game of a new team known as the Knoxville Pioneers. Almost 70 years ago in 1953, the City of Knoxville constructed a stadium that eventually became known as Bill Meyer Stadium adjacent to Caswell Park. Fans enjoyed professional baseball at that municipal facility for more than 45 years.

We now can honor a century-old tradition of baseball in East Knoxville.

We put baseball back in our hometown – where it belongs.