The Tennessee Smokies will take on a new name when the team moves back home to Knoxville. The Smokies part will remain – its association with the team spans decades. The new part will be Knoxville, which returns the name used for the team from 1925 to 1967 and then again from 1993 to 1999 when it was called the … Read More

The News Sentinel started its stadium story with this sentence: The Tennessee Smokies are coming home to Knoxville. This longtime baseball fan will add: It’s about time. Minor League Baseball left Knoxville in 1999 because city and county leadership and the ownership at the time couldn’t reach an agreement on a location. The Smokies departed for Sevier County and have … Read More

The push for approval of a new multi-use stadium went 2-2 at the plate this week – and looks to do the same next week. The Sports Authority and the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission, in separate meetings, both granted unanimous approval this week to move ahead with the $80.1 million overall project. The Sports Authority voted first on Nov. 10 … Read More

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon posted a video this week to explain her support for the proposed multi-use stadium to be built in East Knoxville on the edge of the Old City complete with a background of baseball sounds and images. The Sports Authority, Knoxville City Council and Knox County Commission all will vote within the next week after a workshop … Read More

A local developer has plans to build a $22 million hotel in the Old City if approval is granted for a new baseball stadium and multi-use facility. “I’m excited about the growth of downtown Knoxville,” said Nick Patel, a University of Tennessee graduate and president of TCH Knoxville, LLC, which owns seven other hotels in Knox and Sevier counties. “The … Read More

A column in the News Sentinel by Katherine Whitehead outlined well what a new baseball stadium could mean in Knoxville to even a casual fan. Whitehead wants an experience both inside and outside the stadium, especially after the game ends. She wrote this about going to a game with her partner: When springtime rolled around, he took it upon himself … Read More

Does Knoxville want a new multi-use stadium? The unequivocal answer is yes. A poll commissioned by the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors (KAAR) and conducted by nationally respected firm American Strategies indicated nearly 60 percent of registered voters in Knox County are in favor of the proposal to build a new stadium on the edge of the Old City in … Read More

A panel presented by the Beck Cultural Exchange Center examined the history of the proposed site for a multi-use stadium on the edge of the Old City and unanimously agreed that the development project should move forward in East Knoxville. Rev. Reneé Kesler, president of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, moderated the panel, which consisted of two former Knoxville mayors in … Read More

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