KNOXVILLE, Tenn — The construction manager of the new Smokies baseball stadium near downtown Knoxville described the current project as "going vertical."
At the construction site for the soon-to-be new home of the Smokies, steel beams are being put up as the structure of the stadium takes shape. Crews have been working over the last month to complete the outside base of the stadium.
"You'll see it begin the topping off of the stadium itself to the point where you put a roof and a skeleton around it," Doug Kirchhofer, the chief executive officer of Boyd Sports, said. "And then we can turn to the interior of the stadium itself."
Crews are also working to put two apartment and condo buildings on the East and West sides of the stadium. The underground parking for the Beauford Delaney building has now also started.
"We're thrilled to see this vision that we all had a few years back finally come to life," Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said.
Both the housing developments and the stadium are expected to be done by April 2025, a promised timeline that both Boyd Sports and Knox County are happy about.
"When I first saw it, I thought, how are they going to get this all done in two years, to have a project this big with everything going smooth and on time, speaks volumes to everybody involved," Jacobs said.