With each passing week, construction crews building the East Knoxville multi-use stadium are making rapid and dramatic progress.
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Noteworthy in this mid-summer update: 80 percent of the terraced concrete sections that will support seating have been poured.
All of the roofing is installed, and the last two massive light poles have been set in place along what will be the first- and third-base lines.
The locker rooms, luxury suites and concession stands are all being framed out.
Red brick is being added to the multi-story buildings fronting Jackson Avenue. These will house the Smokies team store and ticket windows, but also, retail or restaurant space.
On the west end of the stadium, there's a grand staircase that's starting to take shape. It would arise from a tree-shaded public plaza - not yet built - that will be 10 feet longer than Market Square.
There will be a total of four public plazas around the stadium, so visitors entering from any direction will encounter and enjoy these public spaces.
The roughly $114 million stadium project - a publicly-owned venue to host professional baseball, soccer, concerts and festivals, beginning next spring - is on schedule and within budget.
The Sports Authority issued $65 million in revenue bonds, to be backed by the City and Knox County.
Revenue sources to pay for the stadium include a $13.5 million state grant, a $1 million-a-year lease with the Knoxville Smokies for 30 years, sales taxes newly generated by events inside the stadium, and new revenues created by a Tax Increment Financing district surrounding the stadium.
In addition, the construction of two privately-funded housing communities is progressing.
The $70 million 233-unit Yardley Flats apartment complex consists of two buildings connected by a sky bridge on the third-base side of the stadium. It's well underway and could begin leasing by late 2024.
Meanwhile, the $45 million Beauford Delaney Building on the first-base side - five floors of condos, plus parking and street-level retail - is now going vertical.