A rendering of the proposed General Neyland Entertainment District Project. (Rendering from the University of Tennessee)
As if going to a Tennessee Vols football game isn’t crazy enough, legions of fans will be able to broaden their experience through a public-private development slated to undergo construction in the next couple of years.
This newfangled idea of allowing private projects on public land — possibly a combo hotel condo (also known as a condotel) connected to historic Neyland Stadium, along with an entertainment venue of shops and restaurants — is taking hold at the Knoxville campus, thanks largely to President Randy Boyd and Vols Athletics Director Randy White. (We’re not sure where Gen. Bob Neyland would come down on this, though we’re fairly certain shopping and eating wouldn’t make his maxims for victory.)
The State Building Commission unanimously approved a move Thursday to hire the Dixon Greenwood firm as “best evaluated proposer” to lead the “865 Neyland Project” in developing an entertainment district on the south side of Neyland near the Tennessee River, with Jake Miller, Taylor Gray, the Hartland Hotel Group and Johnson Architecture. Approval enables Boyd to move with planning and return with a pre-development agreement.
The university will be leasing the property along the river to the developer and won’t be spending money on architectural work, according to Boyd, who also told inquiring reporters he loves his job as UT president and has no plans to make another run for governor. He lost in the Republican primary to Gov. Bill Lee six years ago.
“No taxpayer dollars will be expended whatsoever. It’s a brilliant way to finance assets,” Boyd said.
University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd. (Photo: John Partipilo)
The president noted he is comfortable with allowing state property to be used for private development as long as it’s “for the good of our students and our state.”
“Both students and fans will have all types of additional amenities, and they’ll be able to use them all year-round, in addition to game day,” Boyd said. He pointed out the campus is short of restaurants for students to eat, and this should help solve that. (So much for an inexpensive meal ticket from days of yore)
Boyd said he’s not sure about development details yet, but a UT press release says the project will be anchored by a “condotel” adjacent to the stadium’s south end with a “leisure and entertainment hub” connecting Thompson-Boling Arena to Neyland. It’s expected to replace a popular G10 tailgate area, but parking is to be added to support the district.
The “condotel,” which is supposed to be handled by the Hartland Hotel Group that developed the Hotel Figueroa next to LA Live and several other major sports projects, is to have a full-service hotel, rooftop restaurant bar, pool and terrace, conference center, lounges, fitness center and hotel spa. (God only knows how much it’ll cost to stay there, but you can bet it will be full for big football and basketball games — and baseball, which is said to be the most expensive ticket in Knoxville.)
This public-private deal comes on the heels of the same type of setup for new student dorms at the UT-Knoxville campus.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, chairman of the State Building Commission, backs the project, pointing out Thursday he sponsored the legislation that enabled such a public-private partnership.
The work is expected to take several years and could start as early as 2025. No estimate is available on the overall cost.
But something tells me the price of going to a ballgame is going to escalate.
Gone are the halcyon days of sneaking a bottle of whiskey into Neyland, raising a little ruckus and then hitting “the strip.” These days, the main tailgate area is so chaotic you need a map and GPS to find anyone. Once inside, you can drink all the beer you can stand for about $15 a pop, and if you pay enough money in advance, you can party at an exclusive open-air hangout.
Oh well, 1985 is but a foggy memory. We need the full entertainment experience — or not — on top of a 10% ticket price increase for “talent” to pay all athletes. That’s another story.
Edging back to death row
Tennessee’s Correction commissioner told lawmakers this week a new protocol for executing people on death row should be ready by the end of 2024 or early January 2025.
Commissioner Frank Strada called the effort a “collaboration” between the Department of Correction and the Attorney General’s Office and noted “it’s a long process” to make sure protocols are “right and tight and within the law.”
Gov. Bill Lee put a hold on executions more than two years ago after his office found out the state failed to make sure the drugs used in lethal injections were tested properly. Lee stopped the execution of Oscar Smith only an hour before he was slated to receive a lethal injection.
The Associated Press reported that two people knew the previous night the drugs hadn’t gone through proper tests.
Governor appoints new correction commissioner in wake of lethal injection debacle
An independent review ordered by the governor found that none of the drugs used for executions since 2018 were tested correctly, according to AP. In addition, the report criticized Correction Department leaders for seeing executions through a “result-oriented lens,” and said they failed to make sure staff was trained well enough to follow guidelines.
It’s hard to say if this means executions will start promptly in 2025.
The Associated Press report pointed out the federal public defenders unit representing death row inmates said the state has misrepresented execution protocols in court several times. Legal challenges over parts of the execution guidelines are on hold until the state completes its protocol review.
State taps TennCare for flood damage
Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday the state will use $100 million in TennCare “shared savings” with the federal government to make no-interest loans to flood-damaged counties in East Tennessee.
Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties will be able to use those funds to clean up debris and do other restoration work in the wake of Hurricane Helene flooding that did catastrophic damage two weeks ago.
The state will send $65 million to counties to handle dangerous debris removal and $35 million for water and sewer system repairs.
The TennCare funds, which typically go toward low-income women and children and the elderly and disabled, hadn’t been designated for any use until the governor’s cabinet members and top lawmakers agreed this week to steer them to counties caught in an emergency situation. Lee said the state can justify the use of TennCare money because it is going toward the “health and well-being” of communities.
Federal funds have been promised to the damaged areas, but Lee said that money usually comes in reimbursements and won’t be available soon enough for local governments to start immediate cleanup of ravaged roads, bridges and water and sewer systems. The state money is designed to fill in that gap.
“That fiscal bridge is really difficult for those counties to manage,” Lee said in a press conference at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency center. He pointed out the recovery will take years and said the state needs to start “aggressively.”
State leaders opted against using the state’s $2.5 billion rainy day fund, and apparently no disaster relief fund exists or officials didn’t want to use one, if available.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported this week that other states hit by Helene declared emergencies and expedited requests for federal aid in advance of the storm, days ahead of Tennessee. Asked Thursday whether Tennessee could have taken the same step, Lee said coastal states are allowed to make FEMA requests ahead of time but that inland states such as Tennessee have to wait until the damage is done.
Flooding affects polling sites
At least six counties damaged by the flood are relocating polling sites and taking steps to make sure voters can cast absentee ballots, Secretary of State Tre Hargett said Thursday.
Hargett said he and Election Coordinator Mark Goins visited hard-hit East Tennessee areas last week to see how they plan to handle logistics for the Nov. 5 election, with early voting starting two weeks in advance.
Carter County, for instance, had to move to voting precincts because one old site had vanished or wasn’t habitable, he said. Greene County isn’t closing any precincts, but voters could be delayed in reaching polling places because of road damage.
Likewise, people who cast absentee ballots and put them in mailboxes around the time the flood hit should check with election commission offices to make sure they receive the ballots, Hargett said. The state also has an absentee ballot tracker.
Disaster relief workers might need absentee ballots as well, he said.
“All six counties have a plan in place, and it looks like, as much as people’s lives are in upheaval in many different ways, elections has a plan to work with those voters,” Hargett said.
Quelling rumors
Former President Donald Trump has been bashing the Biden administration for flood response, using tragedy to try to win political points. But Gov. Lee said Thursday the federal government has been helping from the outset.
The federal Department of Transportation, for instance, is providing more than $30 million for immediate road construction. Two lanes on I-40 are expected to be open within a week to allow interstate traffic to move.
Gov. Bill Lee reiterated Thursday that President Biden called him to offer support. With him at a Thursday press conference were, from left, Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Gov. Lee isn’t exactly one of Trump’s cell phone favorites, since the former president called him a RINO, “Republican in name only,” recently. The governor played it off at the time, saying he didn’t know where that came from.
Since the disaster struck, Lee has shied away from criticizing the feds. He reiterated Thursday that President Biden called him to offer support.
And even though U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has complained about the feds diverting FEMA money to help illegal immigrants, she stood quietly with Lee and Trump defender Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger this week as they talked about FEMA’s response.
“We’ve worked with our partners in the federal government from day one,” Lee said Thursday. “Our goal there is to be a good partner.”
Instead of knocking people over the head, Lee, at least, seems focused on pulling people from all agencies together for what he calls a “herculean task,” one in which search and rescue continues amid the cleanup.
That type of sensibility goes a long way in a mad, mad world.
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