{"id":2301298,"date":"2026-02-26T15:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2301298"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:10:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:10:34","slug":"university-of-ky-proposes-entertainment-district-near-kroger-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/university-of-ky-proposes-entertainment-district-near-kroger-field\/","title":{"rendered":"University of KY proposes entertainment district near Kroger Field"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>LEXINGTON, Ky. (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/fox56news.com\/?ipid=dl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FOX 56<\/a>) \u2014 Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes have changed the landscape of college athletics, and they\u2019re forcing universities to get creative to raise money.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Kentucky is taking action with plans for a new entertainment district around Kroger Field.<\/p>\n<p>The university generates a substantial amount of revenue during football season, and campus leaders are aiming to elevate their earnings to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you maintain the current traditions of tailgating in here and enhancing those tailgating experiences that we have?\u201d asked Associate Vice President for Planning, Design, and Construction Kevin Locke.<\/p>\n<p>The university is working on an entertainment district project near Kroger Field, which it said would \u201clink game-day energy with everyday campus life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot of asphalt and student parking currently surrounds Kroger Field. The new plans would call for possible change and construction\u2014think more green space and vendors.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But that poses a serious question. What would this mean for student parking and tailgating?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would make parking much more difficult,\u201d said UK student Brooke Etter. \u201cSo hopefully finding a solution to that would also give you the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A rendering of plans for the initial phase of the entertainment district proposed to surround Kroger Field. (University of Kentucky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Potential changes include replacing the BCTC building on Cooper Drive and transforming some lots into green space with parking garages nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is a good space to add more and additional ideas, and I think it would make it even more lively during football season,\u201d said Etter.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt kind of looks pretty industrial around here and definitely needs more of a natural touch,\u201d added Copper Arvin, a fellow student.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1077\" height=\"547\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg?strip=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2644698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg 1077w, https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg?resize=300,152 300w, https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg?resize=768,390 768w, https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg?resize=50,25 50w, https:\/\/fox56news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/02\/Linear-Corridor-UK-rendering-2.25.jpg?resize=876,444 876w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 899px) 100vw, 876px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">More green spaces have been proposed as a major component of the new entertainment district around Kroger Field. (University of Kentucky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Project leaders are currently working with four options modeled after universities across the U.S. The expansion would offer food and beverage opportunities and retail space, attracting business year-round.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, it\u2019s not just game day, but there could be a lot more concerts and things like that that are integrating what the students are doing on that, you know, nine months out of the year,\u201d said Locke.<\/p>\n<p>While a finished product may be years away, UK officials hope to finalize a plan soon to secure funding. The full scope of the project, including its proposed renderings, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uky.edu\/trustees\/sites\/www.uky.edu.trustees\/files\/Kroger%20Field%20Fan%20Experience%20%28February%202026%29.pdf\">can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content-cta-group\">\n<div class=\"modal--suggest-correction article-content-cta-group__cta\" data-component=\"modal\">\n\t\t\t\t<button data-modal-trigger=\"\" class=\"suggest-correction-button\">Suggest a Correction<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"modal__dialog\">\n<div class=\"modal__dialog-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"modal__close-button\" aria-label=\"Close Modal Content\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" viewbox=\"0 0 16.85 16.875\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<title>Close Modal<\/title>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M9.65 8.454l6.88-7.063a.809.809 0 0 0 0-1.15.782.782 0 0 0-1.14 0L8.52 7.305 1.37.241a.782.782 0 0 0-1.14 0 .809.809 0 0 0 0 1.15l7.15 7.063-7.15 7.063a.809.809 0 0 0 0 1.15.824.824 0 0 0 .6.219.787.787 0 0 0 .59-.219l7.15-7.063 6.87 7.063a.824.824 0 0 0 .6.219.619.619 0 0 0 .54-.219.792.792 0 0 0 0-1.15z\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"modal__dialog-title\">Suggest a Correction<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source fox56news.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) \u2014 Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes have changed the landscape of college athletics, and they\u2019re forcing universities to get creative to raise money. The University of Kentucky is taking action with plans for a new entertainment district around Kroger Field. The university generates a substantial amount of revenue [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2301299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2301298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/University-of-KY-proposes-entertainment-district-near-Kroger-Field.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2301298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2301300,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301298\/revisions\/2301300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2301299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2301298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2301298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2301298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}