Continuing the rebirth of downtown Knoxville, the City of Knoxville, in partnership with private development, is bringing baseball back to the downtown core with a public multi-use stadium. The robust redevelopment includes the stadium, the new home of the MiLB Knoxville Smokies, with restaurant, retail, residential space and public plazas, revitalizing the historic Old City neighborhood and serving as a catalyst for continued mixed-use development in the area.
Continuing our successful relationship partnering with Populous on sports venues, the year-round stadium can host baseball, soccer, and football for 6,355, as well as seat up to 9,925 people for festivals and concerts. The seating bowl will feature branded fan amenities, with luxury boxes, picnic pavilions, and restaurants and bars for an elevated game-day experience.
The design reflects the local historic neighborhood using brick, stone, and steel. The Club level features exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT), leveraging sustainable construction methods while bringing in the warmth of the region’s natural landscape. That local feeling is continued in the connections to the greenway, directly behind the Tennessee-shaped scoreboard and an aesthetic water tower. This new water tower pays homage to the original water tower, a fixed staple of the early 1900’s city skyline, as well as the primary source of water for the original Lay’s Packing Facility. The entry plazas and streetscape improvements will connect the new venue to the rest of downtown, offering safe, welcoming pedestrian pathways as the area continues to grow.
Challenging Foundations
Located in a previous warehouse district, this project is situated on a brownfield site that required heavy lifting from the start of construction to mitigate contaminated soil and adequately prepare the site for foundations. During soil excavation, the team discovered and demolished over 5,000 tons of natural rock, which required additional drilling and extended the timeline for site work by three months. Despite the schedule and budget challenges, the team successfully prepped the site with clean topsoil and a solid foundation for steel construction to begin on schedule.
Barton Malow is an association partner with Denark Construction and Elite Diversified Construction, Inc. on this catalyst project. View the project in real-time via the site webcam.
