“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 far exceeds sports. The publicly owned stadium would host concerts, festivals, youth events, conventions and business meetings. Boyd and his investors plan for more than $100 million in private development with residential, retail, restaurant and commercial spaces.

Also, baseball teams that operate in a downtown area are the most successful, and Boyd has studied ballparks across the country.

“They bring people from all parts of the community together,” Boyd told WBIR. “They share local foods and local cultures, and it’s just a great community-building event.”

The current site is a blight, and Boyd already is having the defunct meat packing plant demolished. As the story said, a transformation is on the table.

The stadium can connect East Knoxville, the Old City and downtown and shift an eyesore into a thriving community.

Read the entire story HERE.