With renderings of a $1.6 million renovation on the infield, dozens of people gathered in center field at Claude Walker Park to listen to plans to transform the youth ballpark in East Knoxville as part of the community investment connected to building a new multi-use stadium on the edge of the Old City. Dozens of community and business leaders attended … Read More
Stephen Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, didn’t mince words when he spoke in Knoxville in May at World’s Fair Park on the edge of the University of Tennessee campus and its iconic football stadium: “I realize that I am in the shadow of Neyland Stadium. But I will tell you that I don’t believe you can be a … Read More
The GEM Community Development Group will ensure that East Knoxville reaps specific benefits from the proposed mixed-use stadium through formal partnerships with the Knoxville Area Urban League, Beck Cultural Exchange Center, local schools and youth organizations. Steve Davis, president of GEM Community Development Group and a former University of Tennessee football player, understands that the biggest need in the community … Read More
The board of the Knoxville Association of Realtors (KAAR) has unanimously endorsed the proposed multi-use, multi-sport stadium development that will be located adjacent to downtown Knoxville. KAAR’s board released the following statement May 5: “Knoxville is already a great city, but it has even more potential. By enhancing public amenities and promoting the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods, robust investment in … Read More
Blake Stevens of WATE interviewed Randy Boyd this week at the site of the proposed stadium during what was a “very good week” for advocates of bringing baseball back to Knoxville. The WATE segment can be watched HERE. Boyd, the owner of the Tennessee Smokies baseball team, also will appear on WATE’s “Tennessee This Week” on Sunday, May 2, at … Read More
An informational meeting to ask questions about the proposal to build a multi-use stadium in Knoxville’s center city yielded two important outcomes – support from both mayors and the ability to do so without a tax increase. The public meeting, held virtually March 25, provided a way for people to ask questions and get answers from Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, … Read More
Pledging that minority firms and individuals will be integral to all aspects of the private development that will surround the publicly owned multi-use facility being proposed on the eastern edge of downtown Knoxville, GEM Community Development Group has announced that it plans to enter into a partnership with the Knoxville Area Urban League. “The Urban League has a long history … Read More
The effort to bring baseball back to Knoxville got a big endorsement from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors (KAAR) on the same day that City Council will consider its support of state legislation to create a special tax district surrounding the proposed multi-use stadium. City Council meets March 9 to discuss a resolution backing the special tax district for … Read More
The mayors of Knoxville and Knox County took a trip to visit Parkview Field, home of the Fort Wayne TinCaps in Indiana. They discovered a city that had been reinvigorated by a new multi-use stadium. WBIR Channel 10 has coverage of the trip that can be watched and read HERE with an excerpt below. Parkview Field, which Fort Wayne owns, … Read More
“Once in a generation, maybe, a city gets a chance to transform itself.” Thus begins the WBIR-TV story about the proposed multi-use stadium in Knoxville with a tour of the site by entrepreneur and local businessman Randy Boyd. Boyd would bring his Smokies baseball team, a AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, to Knoxville from Sevier County, but the project … Read More
