Jackie’s Dream Restaurant
About this Project
Value: $1.5 Million
Year Completed: 2026
Location: Knoxville, TN
Area: 1,953 SF
Owner: Boyd Property Development, LLC
Architect: Johnson Architecture, Inc.
Delivery Method: Construction Manager At-Risk
Project Overview
Jackie’s Dream is a tenant build-out for a beloved local restaurant now located inside Covenant Health Park in downtown Knoxville. After serving as Construction Manager At-Risk for Covenant Health Park, Denark Construction returned to the stadium to help bring Jackie Griffin’s newest restaurant location to life.
The project transformed a space that was not originally intended to operate as a restaurant into a fully functional food-service environment. Denark’s work helped create a welcoming new home for Jackie’s Dream inside one of Knoxville’s most visible community destinations, supporting the restaurant’s next chapter while contributing to the continued energy and growth of the downtown stadium district.
Highlights & Features
The build-out included several key elements designed to support both the customer experience and daily restaurant operations:
- Raised the floor from approximately three feet below finish grade to sidewalk height
- Installed a new polished concrete floor
- Built out a complete back-of-house commercial kitchen
- Added new ovens, coolers, fryers, stovetops, cleaning equipment, plumbing, and ductwork
- Created a welcoming front-of-house dining area with wood paneling
- Installed custom booths in Jackie’s signature red
- Added feature lattice timber ceiling grids
- Built a custom bar, introducing a new beverage service concept for the restaurant
Together, these features create a space that feels both fresh and familiar: a functional restaurant designed to serve longtime customers, new visitors, Smokies fans, and the broader Knoxville community.
Construction Challenges & Solutions
Because the space was not originally designed for restaurant use, Denark coordinated a complex retrofit within an active, fully operational multi-use stadium. Construction took place while Covenant Health Park continued hosting games, sporting events, and public gatherings, requiring careful planning around event schedules, security requirements, and ongoing facility operations.
Key challenges included:
- Retrofitting a non-restaurant space for full food-service operations
- Installing kitchen equipment, ductwork, plumbing, and supporting infrastructure
- Coordinating systems through structural cross bracing
- Working around existing HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and fire protection systems
- Timing rooftop equipment deliveries around stadium events
- Routing rooftop access through the main club-level event space
- Managing carefully planned restroom shutdowns for ductwork and venting installation
- Coordinating work through limited site access
- Operating with minimal laydown and staging space
- Maintaining safe access and uninterrupted stadium activity
To solve these challenges, Denark relied on just-in-time deliveries, carefully planned shutdowns, and constant communication with Covenant Health Park operations, Comfort Systems, and trade partners. The result is a completed restaurant space that feels seamless within Covenant Health Park, despite the significant coordination required behind the scenes.
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