KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The new downtown Knoxville stadium will be named "Covenant Health Park," and it is expected to keep its name for at least 20 years, according to leaders of Boyd Sports and Covenant Health.
Randy Boyd, the owner of Boyd Sports, said when he was looking into building a baseball stadium he visited Fort Wayne, Indiana, for inspiration.
"We went to visit them two years ago, they made roughly $50 million in their stadium. And as a result within less than 12 years, they had a $1.3 billion investment in a smaller city. We have a bigger city, a $300 million catalyst to start our investment. So we're hopeful that we can at least meet if not exceed the kind of investment that they saw around their community," said Boyd.
He said $300 million was spent on Knoxville's stadium, a nearby condominium complex and a public plaza. He also said a public walkway will wrap around the stadium and will be used in its off-hours.
He said the stadium itself cost around $114 million, the condominium complex cost around $80 million, up to $100 million was spent on nearby apartments and up to $15 million was spent on the public plaza.
A $2 million dollar Tennessee-shaped scoreboard brought the stadium's total price up to $116 million. The Sports Authority, which oversees this project, met on Tuesday. It said it will be weeks before the scoreboard will be installed. The scoreboard will be put together on-site.
Boyd said bringing the stadium to East Knoxville is meant to benefit the nearby neighborhoods and people who live there. He said people from all walks of life enjoy baseball and going to a stadium to watch games.
"Being able to move the stadium in downtown Knoxville and be a bridge from the vibrant part of the Old City and downtown to an area that has been neglected for many years, East Knoxville and be able to bring that bridge to bring economic development to that part of town is really important to us," said Boyd.
He said it's important the leaders who invested in the stadium make sure the people who live there see benefits.
"I think if you bring opportunity to the area, it's incumbent on all of us to make sure that they get to share in that opportunity. But I think it would be worse if you brought no opportunity to them," said Boyd.
When asked about the amount of money involved in a newly announced partnership resulting in the stadium's name, both Boyd Sports and Covenant Health declined to share specific information.
Jim VanderSteeg, the Covenant Health CEO, said it was a worthy investment.
"I hope our community is proud of Randy. I mean, it's an incredible commitment. Our commitment is very small, obviously, compared to that. And we're just excited to be a part of really something that's new for a community. I think it's actually gonna create a real excitement for the future of Knoxville," said VanderSteeg.
VanderSteeg said Knoxville is the center of the 25-county region that Covenant Health serves, and he hopes the stadium also serves as a meeting space for East Tennessee and beyond.
"We take care of people out in the community, but we also bring people into this community for high-level care. I believe this stadium is gonna play a really unique role of not only being something wonderful for the citizens of Knoxville and Knox County, but I think as people get a chance to discover this, it's gonna mean a lot to the broader community. The kind of a place where we really meet together and what we do and what's important to us. You'll hear it again and again, with a theme of wellness on our part," said VanderSteeg.
At the Sports Authority meeting, members said the construction schedule was still on track to be completed and to have the first baseball game in mid-April 2025. The dry weather that has been happening over the last few weeks ensures the crews are able to keep working.
Sod for the field is also expected to be put down in about two months. The field will be one of the last things finished. Right now, the focus has been on the stands.
A contractor at the Sports Authority meeting said there's around 4.5 miles of piping that needs to be installed under the ground. Stormwater lines are one of the last bits of infrastructure to be installed.