Cody Johnson rolls into Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Saturday, August 22, for a show that arrives at the worst possible moment for Knoxville parking. The garage that normally sits closest to the arena is closed, prepaid parking passes for the concert are sold out, and University of Tennessee’s campus is packed with more than 30,000 additional residents as fall classes get underway.
The crunch traces back to the partial demolition of the G10 parking garage, which began this summer and wiped out roughly 1,800 spaces that concertgoers and commuters have relied on for years, according to WBIR. The garage historically served as the primary parking facility adjacent to both Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena, and its loss lands right as Cody Johnson brings his tour to town, per the Knoxville News Sentinel, which reports that prepaid parking for the show is already sold out.
The demolition is not a short-term repair job. It marks the first phase of the $280 million Neyland Entertainment District, a mixed-use development that will eventually include 110,000 square feet of entertainment space and a 24-story condo-hotel, according to Shopping Center Business. The project is not expected to fully wrap up until early 2028, and it will eventually include a rebuilt garage designed specifically for event traffic, per the same report.
UT Move-In Week Adds to the Squeeze
Timing made things worse. UT Knoxville’s Fall 2026 classes began Monday, August 17, following student move-in days that ran from August 9 through 16 — a stretch that prompted administrators to encourage incoming students to leave their cars off campus entirely because of construction-related parking strains, per the same account. That move-in surge means campus traffic and parking are near peak congestion just as Johnson’s tour bus rolls in…