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Knox County community discusses building BMX track at South-Doyle Middle School

Tonight's meeting invited members of the community to discuss the track and it was met with plenty of support by young and old who say they're excited to see what events it will attract.

Knox County leaders met with the community Thursday night to talk about building a BMX track at South-Doyle Middle School.

BMX is a motocross sport that involves racing on dirt tracks. Currently, there is no official BMX track within 60 miles of Knoxville.

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett proposed the track in his 2018 budget, and it would cost around $750,000 to transform the football field at South-Doyle into the track on top of building two new fields for sports programs.

Burchett said the track would be open for public use and would attract plenty of events that would generate tourism revenue.

"I think this one will pay off. It's a really hot sport right now and the kids love it," Burchett said. "Heads in beds: that's what's going to happen, and we make a lot of our money off of sales tax revenue."

Thursday's meeting invited members of the community to discuss the track. It was met with plenty of support by young and old who say they're all for it.

Don Spain said he's had children and grandchildren who've attended South-Doyle. He said that while he's sad to see the old football field go, he's happy to see the school get an iconic addition as a trade-off.

"We're giving up a lot, and we're getting a lot. So it's a win-win situation," Spain said. "I think the BMX program will draw a lot of folks to South Knoxville.

Knox County Parks and Recreation will head up developing the track, with a goal for it to open in fall 2018.

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