Downtown reporter Ryan Wilusz and visual journalist Calvin Mattheis return to Knoxville to share what they learned from their trip to Durham, North Carolina, where a downtown baseball stadium opened in 1995 resembles the plans for downtown Knoxville, just east of the Old City. 

As the Tennessee Smokies prepare to move downtown in 2025, visit knoxnews.com for more insight gathered from our trip, including video tours and stories on the lessons Durham Bulls officials learned about their downtown stadium over time. There are lots of takeaways for the Tennessee Smokies, downtown Knoxville stakeholders and taxpayers.

"The Scruffy Stuff" is presented by Knox News. Want more downtown analysis? Sign up for the free weekly Urban Knoxville newsletter by clicking here, and join the downtown discussion by becoming part of the Urban Knoxville group on Facebook.