Metro Pulse/Insights/400 Block of Gay Street

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by Joe Sullivan

Spurred, and to some extent shamed, by the magnificent restoration of the Miller's Building, neighboring building owners along Gay Street's most downtrodden block are collaborating on a facelift.

The collaboration, sponsored by the Central Business Improvement District, is expected to expunge the boarded-over, bombed-out look that has plagued much of the 400 block of Gay that's bounded by Union and Wall Avenues. While the changes will only be cosmetic, they could make the block more attractive for subsequent redevelopment of the vacant structures that once housed such mainstays of downtown commerce as Fowler's Furniture, J.C. Penney, and a White Store. At the least, passers-by and prospective occupants alike won't be put off by the block's appearance.

The CBID's Board of directors has approved a $45,000 outlay for the facelift, but this is only a small part of an expected total cost of $200,000 or more that will be borne primarily by building owners.

The CBID's chairman, Rod Townsend Jr., who owns the White Store building, has taken the lead in lining up participation on the part of other owners. "The Miller's Building has made us focus on what an eyesore much of the rest of the block is, and we felt that if we could put something in, it would do a 180-degree shift in the perception of the block," says Townsend.

The architecture firm Ross/Fowler has been retained for design work that started with research on how the block looked during its heyday in the 1920s. "We're trying to marry what was there with what would be useful," says Ross/Fowler's Andy Powers. "The common elements were punched openings on the upper floors, cornices separating the first and second floors and glass on the lower floor."

But it would take millions of dollars more than Ross/Fowler has to work with to remove the mortar that has been plastered over many of the exteriors to effect retail modernity circa 1960s and then to restore the originals. So the firm is having to resort to what Powers acknowledges as "smoke and mirrors" in its design, using plywood overlays to create faux openings and paint to simulate cornices. Facades would all get a pressure-wash cleaning and painting to restore the "homogeneity of color" that once characterized the block.

Another element of the makeover would be merchandise and art displays in plate glass windows at the street level. Just window gazing, not shopping, would be the motif, but the advertising value of such displays has proven attractive to merchants and galleries in other cities. Wayne Blasius, an owner of the Fowler's Building who's spearheading this effort, says he's had "Several expressions of interest from retailers, and I'm also going to be talking with UT."

A recent CBID newsletter reports that, "Work should begin in late May or early June and be completed in 30 days." But there's likely to be some slippage until costs in excess of $45,000 and property owner's commitments to them are firmed up.

These commitments are virtually certain to be forthcoming from the owners of the White Store, J.C. Penney, and the Fowler's buildings that anchor the east side of the block. Except for them, the rest of that side of the street is already looking good with the renovated J.D. Lee law offices, the building that houses the Great Southern Brewing Co., Kimball's Jewelers, and Arby's extending to the corner of Gay and Union.

Prospects on the west side of the block from the Miller's building northward appear more problematic. Jason Nguyen, who owns the former Kress' building that now houses J's Mega Mart, is more admired for his entrepreneurship than his sense of aesthetics. And it will probably take pending acquisition by Knoxville's Community Development Corp. to bring about improvements to the dilapidated former Lerner Shops Building now owned by the notorious Frank Genkay.

Cosmetic improvements are, of course, a superficial substitute for the full-fledged renovation of the block for some combination of residential, office, and commercial use that most of the owners envision in the future. But while no one is stepping up as yet to invest in such renovations, owners report they are getting a lot more expression of interest from prospective developers. Dressing the block for success can improve those prospects, they believe. "It improves the attractiveness and the value of everyone's building," Townsend says.

Another catalyst for the spruce up effort at this time is the unveiling of Worsham Watkins' grand design for downtown redevelopment that's scheduled for June 28. Their plans for a $250 million private investment (supported by $130 million in public infrastructure) in a corridor extending from Market Square to the World's Fair Park could rub off on the adjacent 400 block of Gay Street as well. If everything that Worsham Watkins has on the drawing boards materializes, it will offer numerous amenities for downtown dwelling that just might produce a quantum jump in demand for the sort of living space that Gay Streets' historic buildings are well suited to provide.

At the same time, scrapping of plans for a new jail just to the east on State Street removes a specter that many saw as a deterrent to Gay Street development, especially on the eastern side of the block. A new unknown in the equation is what will happen to the site that Knox County acquired and leveled at a cost of $8 million before aborting the project. But Townsend sees many positive possibilities for the site.

His favorite: location of a Knoxville children's museum worthy of the name coupled with relocation of Fort Kid, whose present site just west of the World's Fair Park is earmarked for carriage houses under the downtown development concept plan approved by the Public Building Authority earlier this year.

"The combination of a children's museum and Fort Kid would create a critical mass of things for kids which would make downtown much more of a family-centric place," the CBID chairman enthuses.

Until more millions of dollars come along from sources yet to be determined all of this remains a pipe dream. But at least downtown's dark side is starting to dream again instead of wallowing in its nightmarish decline over the latter 20th century.