Don't want to lose Bower Field Park to shopping? County accepts owner's pitch to move it

The owners of the land that houses Bower Field Park in south Knox County want to build on it, but they've offered up another spot nearby to move the park's popular ballfields.

Developers have been working since 2023 to turn Bower Field Park - a playground with baseball and softball facilities along Chapman Highway on the far south end of the county - into shops and restaurants.

Thunder Mountain Properties is now ready to move forward slowly with the project, and has given the county, via a gift to the nonprofit Legacy Parks Foundation, 107 acres nearby for a new park. The county and the nonprofit will have to rebuild the playground and ballfields on the new site, though they have seven years for the transition.

Developers say they won't start building businesses until a new park is finished.

The developers face one more hurdle. The Bower land they own and hope to redevelop is zoned for agricultural use, and they'd have to get it switched for commercial purposes. The Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission will discuss the change next month.

Dawn Close, who moderates the Save Bower Field Facebook page, said she's skeptical. She told Knox News neighbors are fine with development but want assurances construction won't start until the new park is ready.

"There should be no rezoning or reduction in services at Bower Field until the replacement is complete and deeded to the county," she wrote on the Facebook page.

County officials and Legacy Parks will host meetings to solicit ideas for the new park, and Mike Donila, a spokesperson for Mayor Glenn Jacobs, said baseball fields are a top priority.

"The county has plenty of time, since the fields at Bower Park will be there, more than likely, for seven more years," Donila said in a text.

Carole Evans, the executive director of Legacy Parks, told Knox News the county and nonprofit will take the next seven years to determine the design, environmental factors and funding of the park. She estimated the park could cost between $15 million and $20 million.

Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.

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