UT pulls its Urban Design Studio out of Market Square
by Matt Edens
After three semesters in Market Square, UT's Knoxville Urban Design Studio—which many hoped would be a part of downtown revitalization—is moving back to campus because of a lack of funding.
"This is purely a result of the UT money crunch," says UT Architecture professor Mark Schimmenti. After three semesters of generously donating space in the former Watson's building, David Dewhirst, the building's owner, approached UT with a proposal to continue the relationship for what he feels was a modest return.
"In terms of cost per square foot for gallery space and classroom space, I doubt they could get a better deal," Dewhirst says. UT Provost John Peters agrees. In a letter sent to Dewhirst dated April 5, Peters declares that "the proposal is very reasonable." However, the letter continues: "We are unable to commit funding for this purpose." Peters goes on to attribute the decision to the state budget crisis: "As you know, state funding for higher education has not increased, and the budget situation here at the University of Tennessee is uncertain. We are simply unable to meet the many demands for our limited resources."
"They viewed it as a sort of luxury item rather than a necessity," says Dewhirst. According to Schimmenti, it would cost around $3,000 a month to keep the studio open—"about what you pay an assistant professor. It'd be great to keep it open," he adds, "but given the financial situation of the University..."
After opening in the spring semester of 1999, Schimmenti and Interior Design Professor Jennifer Magee taught UT students urban design in a very hands-on urban setting. With the classroom in the downtown, the students, according to Schimmenti, "start to experience the downtown in a very direct way—they eat in places and go to places that they may have never gone otherwise—students adopt the downtown in a real sense." But more important to Schimmenti is the interaction between the students and downtown dwellers and workers. Beyond the 75 students who have passed through the downtown studio, hundreds of members of the general public, civic leaders, and city officials have participated in various design workshops and viewed student work in the gallery space. "The community interaction part is the main reason to do it," says Schimmenti.
UT's art department submitted plans to expand the center with performance, gallery, and studio space. But the idea never got much support from UT's administrators, who said the money simply wasn't there.
Closing the Market Square space doesn't mean the end of the Urban Design Studio. It will continue to operate, but at the UT campus rather than downtown. "It's still the same studio," says Schimmenti. "It's not going to slow us down. It's just that it won't be as accessible to the general public."
Citing the support that numerous downtowners and city officials have shown to the studio—including a letter from Mayor Victor Ashe to UT President Wade Gilley urging that the center be kept open—Schimmenti also remains hopeful that the center could reopen downtown.
"I think there's a willingness," he says, "both among the city and the university. It just hasn't meshed yet." He also sees a possibility in the new ad-hoc committee exploring greater cooperation between the city and the university: "I could see that committee with all the partners sitting down and seeing if this could happen. There's even a chance that there's room in the new KUB building."
April 20, 2000 * Vol. 10, No. 16
© 2000 Metro Pulse
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