About 30 miles northwest of Knoxville, Rocky Top, Tennessee is officially on the map.

The former town of Lake City–home to only 1,800, seized the opportunity to change its name in hopes of stimulating its lacking economy.

The song “Rocky Top” written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 has been made famous by UT since the 1970s and is one of Tennessee’s eight state songs.

Now, Rocky Top serves as a tourist attraction.

With its new title, Rocky Top is to begin a multimillion-dollar project to construct a water park, amusement park, up-scale hotel, country music theater, pirate-themed restaurant, athletic complex and a UT athletics museum.

Developers hope to pull tourism into the town, which currently hosts only a few businesses.

Chris Phillips, the city recorder for Rocky Top, has been an integral part of promoting the name change and has worked with media outlets on the process as well as with the Tennessee Secretary of State to ensure the name change was approved and then ratified by the town’s city council.

The idea began last fall when the idea was first proposed after Townsend turned down developers.

“Lake City was presented with idea last August by investors who believed the community would benefit from the name change,” Phillips said. “With two interstate exits we are a prime location for development.”

With the official name change, Phillips said the city is hoping that interested investors will follow though with the plans.

“We’ve been requested to obtain traffic counts, and land is being looked at,” Phillips said, “The city is finished with what it was going to do. We need to make changes and hope investors follow through.

“The hope of what this may do for the future generation to attract and keep our youth here.”

However, this isn’t the first time the town has changed its name.

Until 1936, the small mining town was called Coal Creek, but changed its name to Lake City when the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed a dam a few miles away.

Still, the city hopes to capitalize on the name familiar and dear to Tennessee football fans.

County Commissioner Tim Isbel, a member of the project’s Board of Developers, took the proposal to the city council and city chamber, and notes the job opportunities that new tourism could bring to the town.

“(Local students) never asked about the rides; they asked about the level education they needed and the job opportunities they would have, and that really shocked me,” Isbel said. “They have a pride in the new name. I saw a police car that had been relabeled to say Rocky Top Tennessee and it had a daunting effect with a different wrapper.

“It’s the same with the city, it’s the same place and the same people, but a different wrapper.”

Savannah Gilman can be followed on Twitter at @SavannahGilman.