Smokies stadium in Knoxville won't have a parking garage. Its peer says that's a mistake

Tennessee Smokies owner Randy Boyd has his argument at the ready when downtown parking comes up.

“Get an aerial map and look at the Old City,” Boyd told Knox News on “The Scruffy Stuff” podcast in September. “It’s a handful of little buildings in a sea of parking lot. But because it’s not Walmart – because you can’t pull up right next to the front door – people don’t feel like that there’s a place to park.”

With properties scattered throughout the Old City, Boyd knows the area as much as anyone invested in downtown Knoxville.

But when it comes to the construction of a new minor league baseball stadium in downtown Knoxville, the question becomes, “If you build it, will they walk?"

No designated fan parking is planned for the stadium. Boyd's vision for a reenergized Old City involves fans parking nearby on game days, supporting businesses on their path to the stadium and maybe enjoying victory drinks at surrounding bars when the ninth inning concludes.

“It just doesn’t happen the way you think,” Mike Birling, vice president of baseball operations for the Durham Bulls, told Knox News. “Traffic studies, all that – you just have to take those with a grain of salt because people aren’t going to do what you think they’re going to do.”

Durham, North Carolina, has a similar stadium that has been in operation since 1995 for the city’s Triple-A team. Durham Bulls Athletic Park also is located in a warehouse district on the edge of its downtown and is surrounded by development the ballpark helped to catalyze – the same goal Boyd has for downtown Knoxville.

A parking study shared with Knox News shows 1,333 parking spaces are available within a 0.25-mile radius of the Knoxville stadium site, and 7,675 are within a half-mile radius. Some are public, some are private and some are free.

But even with large parking structures built near the Durham stadium, the time it takes to park before games is still a top fan complaint − even though that complaint could be addressed if fans broke old habits.

"Stadiums in an urban environment are not typically surrounded by acres of parking," Smokies CEO Doug Kirchhofer told Knox News in an emailed statement. "Dispersing of parking allows patrons to move away from the most congested areas immediately surrounding the venue. After construction starts, we will begin work with the City of Knoxville and other stakeholders to develop a range of alternatives for access to the stadium."

Here's what we learned from Durham's parking strategy and why winging it might not be enough.

Takeaway 1: Parking options will dwindle with development

Economic consultant Ted Abernathy, who served as Durham’s director of economic and employment development from 1998 to 2001, said downtown stadiums often are designed to attract additional economic activity in the area. That’s certainly the case for Knoxville.

And when that happens, he said, “you’re going to need more parking.”

“There’s nowhere for us to grow,” Birling said. “There’s no storage, there’s no parking. Those are challenges that we kind of live on a daily basis that we just have kind of learned to get through.”

As properties in the Old City are purchased, there will be fewer nearby lots for parking. Durham is living that, as satellite lots once used for game days have been purchased for other uses.

The trend is already underway in Knoxville. Ephant Group recently completed a $4 million purchase of downtown’s most visible paid parking lot at 130 S. Central St., a two-minute walk from the stadium. The lot can accommodate roughly 100 vehicles.

And just steps from the stadium site, Turkey Creek Hospitality purchased a parking lot next to Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria to build a SpringHill Suites by Marriott. This would eliminate roughly 70 spaces, according to Parkopedia.

Takeaway 2: Fans will park in known, if more crowded, places

Anyone who spends time in urban environments likely has their favorite place to park.

With the revitalization of Market Square in the early 2000s, visitors flocked to the Market Square Garage for nights on the town. Even though development is now scattered throughout the city, as discussed on “The Scruffy Stuff” podcast, this garage too-often remains a safe bet for people traveling into the city and can become clogged as a result.

For years, nearly all Durham Bulls fans came from the same direction, parked in the same garages and, in the early years of its new stadium, left immediately after the game was over. Durham had virtually nothing else going on downtown.

Even though other parking exists in downtown Durham, including a garage just steps away from the outfield gates, fans struggle to fight muscle memory.

Scott Strickland, the Bulls’ assistant general manager of operations, told Knox News 63% of fans still come through the main gate – the gate closest to the parking garage fans have historically used - despite the Bulls trying to educate fans about other options.

"They’re going to be mad at you before they ever go into this new stadium," Birling said about Smokies fans if they're left without convenient parking. "Instead of coming happy and then just rolling into a baseball game, it’s going to take them two, three innings to calm down and hopefully have fun. And then they’re going to get back in the car and get stuck and take how long to get out of the downtown?

"I can’t stress enough how traffic is huge, both in and out, to try to have a good fan experience.”

Takeaway 3: Fans need really specific instructions for where to park

“Parking is a fascinating, fascinating world,” Strickland said. “Because if you think about it, that is your first experience going into an event, and that is your last experience of going to that event. So, to a degree, whatever happens in between that doesn’t matter … It’s such an incredibly important part of a guest experience.”

So much so that Strickland and Birling were spotted before a Tuesday night game during Knox News’ visit to Durham helping to direct traffic.

“The tricky part when you’re evolving a downtown is getting folks out of that suburban mindset, which is around sightlines,” said Geoff Durham, president and CEO of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce. “Like, I’m going to drive right to the thing I want to go to, and then I’m going to look around to figure out where parking is.

“And I think you have to provide some (additional parking and education) initially. I think people need to feel like this is easy.”

Takeaway 4: Parking impacts when games can happen

A lack of parking in Durham has led the team to virtually abandon day games.

Lots and garages are full during the day to accommodate downtown workers. Parking spaces tend to clear when work shifts end, which is both positive and negative in some regards.

“We can draw more people for a Tuesday 1 o’clock game in May than we can for a Tuesday 7 p.m. game,” Strickland said. “But where are your 6,000 patrons that’s probably going to equate to 2,000 cars – where are they going to park?”

“We thought, OK, downtown stadium … all these businesses that are going to want to come to Bulls games – it’s the complete opposite,” Birling said. “If it’s a Bulls game night, they all beg to be able to go home early. They want to get out before the traffic starts.”

Takeaway 5: Fewer parking options is a safety issue

When Durham Bulls Athletic Park opened in 1995, people were skeptical about visiting the disinvested area. Downtown Knoxville is much more developed than Durham was at that time, and the business community in the city’s core is thriving.

However, if there’s one area outsiders seem skeptical about, it’s the Old City. It’s certainly the scruffiest part of the Scruffy City, with its main parking area located beneath the James White Parkway overpass.

Birling said safety around the ballpark is one of the “main pillars” for the Bulls.

“I think you do have to have a strong presence right away to show that you’re taking (safety) serious,” he said. “You have to proactively go out and make sure people know that you’re taking it seriously and you understand and you care about it. Because most of the fans that come to Bulls games are families.”

Takeaway 6: Parking can affect fan, community culture

Still, Strickland recognizes fewer families are coming to games these days. While parking struggles could be a deterrent – as could be the timing of night games for families with kids – it has a lot do with the influx of young professionals moving into newer apartments around the stadium, he said.

Boyd told Knox News young professionals will be a key demographic upon the team’s move to downtown Knoxville for similar reasons, especially when considering plans for a condo building and apartment building adjacent to the facility.

Adam Klein is the director of Durham Real Estate for Capitol Broadcasting Company, the owner of the Bulls. Part of his job involves overseeing the restaurant and office tenants in the properties around the stadium.

“Some fans ... got young kids and they don’t have all the time to stop in and check out the T-shirt shop or get a drink or a bite to eat beforehand,” he said. “And so, I think some of this is you kind of have to balance the culture of the team and what experience you want to have on a game day with what the fan wants, with what your assets are around the stadium.”

While Durham sees some fans supporting local businesses before and after the game – perhaps, letting parking die down before hitting the road – “the majority are mostly in, mostly out,” Klein said, "but that’s our experience here.”

Takeaway 7: Game day ambassadors are key

Regardless of who’s coming, fan ambassadors are a key component of a Bulls game day experience and something Knoxville could benefit from adopting.

Ambassadors are not just located outside the stadium on game days; they also are on the streets surrounding the park, guiding fans to and from parking structures and serving as a friendly face to help fans feel comfortable.

“One, you’re shortening and making that walk feel a little bit shorter for the customer,” Strickland said. “Two, you’re just being friendly, and that’s going to make you want to come back there. And three, you’re providing some safety as well – visual deterrents. … It’s all a piece of the pie that’s really important.”

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Should Smokies baseball stadium in downtown Knoxville have parking?