In the past, we told you about the City’s plans to help reinfuse life into the historic Burlington Center in East Knoxville through streetscape improvements and the construction of a new firehouse for that area: July 2025. The $19M project has already been funded by the City Council.
So how are things going?
The new $8.7M two-bay firehouse is currently under construction, with a projected completion date of mid-December 2026. Last summer, after design approvals, the site was cleared, and the earth-moving and soil-compacting work was completed in the fall of 2025. The building’s reinforced concrete foundation has recently been completed, and masonry block work and concrete pad pours are now underway, according to Johnson & Galyon, which is overseeing the site. Steel erection will follow once that preparatory work is complete.
The launch of the related $10.3M Streetscapes phase, already under contract, will follow this spring. Context is important here. Recall that the old Burlington Center has been around for over 100 years. Buildings have become tired and rundown. Once thriving businesses closed…