Nearly 20 months after the official groundbreaking, construction work on the multiuse stadium in East Knoxville is very close to completion.
The $114-million, 7,500-seat future home of the Knoxville Smokies and One Knoxville SC is nearly ready to host thousands of fans this spring. The Knoxville-Knox County Sports Authority held their first meeting of the year on Tuesday and project remains on track to be completed ahead of the inaugural Smokies game on April 15.
Officials said that the new stadium should receive a certificate of occupancy by the end of March. A few remaining tasks around the stadium must be completed before then, including the massive Tennessee-shaped scoreboard.
“We are working on the audiovisual system, the wiring for the audiovisual system, the last bit of sidewalk of the concourse area behind the right field bar, and some signage,” said Barry Brooke of the commercial property development firm LawlerWood.
Ground was broken at the East Knoxville site near the Old City in June 2023. The stadium will be publicly-owned by the city and county. It was funded in large part by $65 million in public bonds from the city and county as well as a $13.5-million economic grant from the state.
In August, officials announced a stadium naming rights agreement with Knoxville-based healthcare system Covenant Health.
