By JILL MCNEAL
6 News Anchor/Reporter
FARRAGUT (WATE) - Final preparations are being made for the grand opening of the Turkey Creek Public Market. It's located on Outlet Drive off Lovell Road, just north of I-40.
It was supposed to open this spring. The owner blames red tape for the delay. The market has a new start date now of August 12.
The huge space is divided into 600 booths. Managing partner Charles Atchley said 500 of them have already been rented.
"This whole area is antiques and collectibles and arts and crafts," Atchley explained as he showed 6 News around. "This area here is a fish market. Fresh fish, fresh seafood."
Outside will be a traditional farmer's market.
"There are plenty of drive-up stalls where they can back up and bring a load of watermelon or flowers or organic goods," Atchley explained.
There will be entertainment and special events, too.
"This area here seats 170 people. It will have a stage in the center," Atchley said as he pointed to the middle of the building.
There will be four restaurants - BBQ, pizza, tacos, and Denton's.
"We have fresh dipped corn dogs, funnel cakes, fresh-squeezed lemonade," said Brad Denton, the second generation owner of the original restaurant on Kingston Pike.
"We thought it would be a good opportunity to expand our brand," he said.
The location, with plenty of shoppers strolling by, was a big plus.
"I'm very optimistic, very confident," Denton said.
Just down the row, another local businessman has also chosen to expand in this same location.
"We've got home textiles. We've got quilts," explained Tom Cate.
He has been selling the same products at his store, "All Tucked In" in Sevierville, for the past eight years.
"The overhead here is a lot less than a store front," Cate said.
The grand opening is Friday, August 12 at 10 a.m. After that, the market will be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Atchley expects a million visitors during the public market's first year. A new traffic light was recently installed to help drivers turning left onto Outlet Drive from Lovell Road.
Also, plans are in the works for Outlet Drive to be extended all the way to Campbell Station Road by the end of next year.
