Sevierville Events Center breaks ground

Local officials gathered at the future site of the Sevierville Events Center recently to break ground on a facility they hope will make Sevierville a major events destination.

The events center is the main part of the city's plans for its Central Business Improvement District (CBID). Under state law, those districts allow the city to draw on a greater portion of sales tax dollars to help pay for improvements to the community.

The city's plans call for spending $182 million on the CBID project, including $65 million on the 224,000-sq.-ft. events center. Wilderness Resorts LLC is building an adjacent hotel that will serve the events center and an indoor/outdoor water park as part of the same project.

Drawings displayed at the groundbreaking showed the company has committed to several other projects in the area as well.

"Sevierville is on its way to being a recognized destination," said J.T. Arnold, chairman of the Public Building Authority (PBA). The PBA is responsible for overseeing the CBID project, including the city's golf facility and the events center.

Drawings for the events center show the main exhibit hall will be about 108,000 sq. ft. and host up to 7,000 people. The renderings show a portable wall dividing that area into smaller spaces.

There is about 20,000 sq. ft. of space in a separate ballroom area and the drawings show those can be closed off to form four separate areas.

The center is scheduled to open in summer of 2007. It will be located at the intersection of Old Knoxville Highway and Gists Creek Road.

Residential, mixed-use development in Nashville sells out phase one

Three days was all it took for Bristol Development Group and Marketstreet Equities to sell out the first phase of ICON in the Gulch condominiums, located in Nashville, Tenn., and designed by ka architecture.

The architects for the $100 million, 424-unit mixed-use, 22-story residential and retail tower, credits the successful sales to Bristol's trusted brand, the high demand in Nashville for this type of product and the notable design of this development.

"Bristol has rightfully earned a reputation for developing affordable upscale, urban projects in the Nashville area and they're answering a demand from residents seeking city living," said Rob Weeks, project manager at ka.

Ray Bell, Blalock brings home largest contract in state history

Ray Bell Construction Co. of Brentwood, Tenn., announced recently the award of a $104 million contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to construct Phase III & IV of SmartFIX 40 in Knoxville, Tenn. SmartFIX 40 is an accelerated construction plan to reconstruct bridges and roadways on I-40 in and around the city of Knoxville.

RBCC is currently building Phase I & II of project, which at the time of the award was the largest TDOT contract in state history at $85 million. RBCC has topped that milestone with the award of this latest phase.

RBCC teamed with Blalock and Sons Construction of Knoxville and began construction on Phase III & IV in May. All construction is scheduled to be completed by summer 2009.