The State Building Commission has approved a project to build a new football stadium for East Tennessee State University.
The approval this week authorizes the selection of a designer who will plan the first phase of the project and begin preplanning the entire project.
The first phase of the stadium will be funded entirely from student fees. The fee was approved by the university's Student Government Association in January.
The proposed stadium will seat about 10,000 people and is expected to cost $18 million.
Last month, ETSU hired former University of North Carolina coach Carl Torbush as the university's new head football coach.