Covenant Health Park

Covenant Health Park, home to the AA Tennessee Smokies baseball team and One Knoxville Sporting Club’s soccer team, is the result of extensive urban planning with Boyd Sports to create a destination downtown stadium with contiguous retail, office space, condominiums, and apartments. 

The stadium — billed as the Friendliest Ballpark in America, and named 2025 Ballpark of the Year by BaseballParks.com — seats 7,000 for games and up to 15,000 for concerts.

Covenant Health Park is the first building in Knoxville to use cross-laminated timber. The sustainable CLT roofing system spans 36,500 square feet, saving 55 tons of steel production and approximately 434 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The exposed timber lends a biophilic element to the stadium, lending a distinct aesthetic that echoes East Tennessee's abundant woodlands.

Barber McMurry carefully considered the legacy and aspirations of the site, including the stadium's role as a linchpin in connecting the Old City and East Knoxville, which had been visually and physically separated by Urban Renewal. Throughout the stadium, custom statues honor baseball in Knoxville, including the historic Knoxville Giants Negro League Baseball team. The development extends retail down Jackson Avenue, past the James White Parkway overpass, expanding the current footprint of downtown. The design extends the visual aesthetic of historic Old City buildings through extensive use of brick, as well as the pedestrian scale of Jackson.

Design partners were Design Innovation Architects and Populous.