Knoxville city leaders recently announced the new multi-use stadium that will host Tennessee Smokies games and other events in the city is now estimated to cost $114 million – up from the project’s original estimate of $65 million.
According to the city, the inflated final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the stadium is due in part to “inflation and record-high construction costs.”
The price will not affect the initially approved plan for the funding of the stadium, which includes the issuance of $65 million in bonds and a $13.5 million economic development grant from the state, the city noted.
Tennessee Smokies Owner and president of the University of Tennessee System Randy Boyd agreed to “contribute funds needed to pay for the cost increases over the previously approved funding plan” in addition to “any costs overruns beyond the stadium GMP.”
“This is a very exciting time for our community, and we are happy to be collaborating with the leaders of our city and county to make this important project a reality,” Boyd said in a statement. “We are looking forward to 2025 when we will be playing Smokies baseball and hosting many other amazing events at the beautiful new stadium.”
Despite the inflated price tag, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said she believes the stadium will “create new opportunities for wealth-building in East Knoxville.”
“The public stadium will be the catalyst for hundreds of millions of dollars in new private investment, which will in turn grow our local economy and create jobs,” Kincannon added.
The Knox County Sports Authority Board approved the spending plan for the new stadium at its meeting on Tuesday.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs added that Knox County is “still in a strong fiscal position to move forward with this project,” citing a 50 percent increase of hotel/motel tax collection – which will be used to finance the stadium’s debt from the city and county.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Smokies Stadium” by Swiderfanclub. CC BY-SA 3.0.
