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Seven Days

Wednesday, Aug. 23
Byron (Low Tax) Looper gets life without parole for killing Crossville State Sen. Tommy Burks. Weirdest testimony of the trial comes from Looper's friend Joe Bond, who says Looper showed up at his house in Arkansas the day of the murder and told him "I killed that dude...That guy I was running against. I busted a cap in that dude's head." Busted a cap? In Crossville?

Thursday, Aug. 24
A congressional panel visits Gibbs High School to hear about difficulties with the current special-education laws. School officials say that, for example, they can't throw learning-disabled students out of school for the same offenses they can throw out other students. Huh. Seems like schools used to think the challenge was keeping the problem kids in the classroom.

Friday, Aug. 25
Within six hours of each other, two mothers give birth respectively to triplets and quadruplets at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. Mayor Victor Ashe promptly annexes both families.

Saturday, Aug. 26
Clinton Highway car dealer Greg "Lumpy" Lambert makes international news when he offers vouchers for free guns to anyone who buys an auto. Net result: three cars sold, 26 new NRA members registered, Knoxville's hilljake image cemented for at least another 10 years.

Monday, Aug. 27
UT scientists unveil America's first cloned Jersey cow. They say their goal is to produce "perfect animals." The Athletic Department immediately expresses interest in a joint venture.
County Commission agrees to send a six-person delegation to negotiate with city officials on annexation—and simultaneously prepares a lawsuit to fight past annexations in court. At issue are the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, seized during the Six-Day War of 1967.

Knoxville Found

What is this? Every week in "Knoxville Found," we'll print the photo of a local curiosity. If you're the first person to correctly identify this oddity, you'll win a special prize plucked from the desk of the editor (keep in mind that the editor hasn't cleaned his desk in five years). E-mail your guesses, or send 'em to "Knoxville Found" c/o Metro Pulse, 505 Market St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Last Week's Photo:
Maybe this one was too easy. Or y'all are getting sharper. Whichever it is, we had a whole heap of correct entries, all of which identified the portrait in the photo as May Lawson McGhee, namesake of Lawson McGhee Library (where the painting resides). McGhee was the daughter of Knoxville industrialist Charles McClung McGhee, the major benefactor of the library. He named it in her memory shortly after she died in 1883 during childbirth, at the age of 23. The library opened three years later. The winner is Catherine Moirai, who admits to having a slight advantage in that she works in the building as a business reference librarian. Her entry beat out runner-up Jeff McKenzie by mere minutes. To the rest, we can only say, try try again. In keeping with the theme of this issue, Ms. Moirai wins a CSS Sports mousepad in the shape of a football.

Meet Your City
A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend

Knoxville City Council
Tuesday, Sept. 5 * 7 p.m. * Main Assembly Room of the City County Building
It seems there won't be a full slate of annexations this time, following the mayor's self-imposed 60-day moratorium. What else does City Council do?

UT faculty meeting for campus master plan
Wednesday, Sept. 6 * 3:30 p.m. * University Center ballroom
Consultants will present plans for campus improvements to the UT faculty for discussion. The public is welcome to attend.

Knox County Board of Education
Wednesday, Sept. 6 * 5 p.m. * Main Assembly Room of the City County Building
The school board will swear in two new members and hold their annual elections for chairman and vice chairman. Plus whatever else they feel like doing.

Green Party exploratory meeting
Monday, Sept. 11 * 6:30 p.m. * Foundation for Global Sustainability * 2743 Wimpole Ave.
Local Greens are trying to find candidates for local office.

Rules of Disengagement

The city considers what to do with its stalled riverfront development

In 1993, Knoxville officials were confident enough in Arthur Collins and Judith Coulter to select them as developers for the city's riverfront project without competitive bids. But now, with no retail leases and a second phase of condominiums stalled, they're less enthusiastic about the Connecticut-based developers and their Volunteer Landing Development company.

"The office space and retail shopping hasn't worked out as well as I would like," says Mayor Victor Ashe. "Overall I think the waterfront development has been a success. There are some parts of it that haven't worked out as well as I would have hoped."

Ashe adds that the developers haven't fulfilled the terms of their contract with the city and that "the process of disengagement is well underway."

Since that "process of disengagement" includes the possibility of a lawsuit against Collins and Coulter, Ashe refuses to provide more details about the city's relationship with the developers—or exactly what he means by "disengagement."

Neither Collins nor Coulter—who has reportedly moved out of her riverfront condo and back to Connecticut—could be reached for comment. But Susan Williams, who, as a partner in the Ingram Group, serves as a consultant to the developers, thinks Ashe may be overstating his case. "The only concern has been getting that retail building leased," Williams says. "Frankly, Judith and Arthur tried very hard for a year and a half to bring shops there, but the market just wasn't there."

Collins and Coulter have since gotten approval from the city and TVA, which owns the waterfront property, to convert the proposed retail space to offices, and Williams says the building will be fully leased within a few weeks. Williams concedes that the developers may have exceeded the timeline of their 1993 contract, but she says they've worked with the city in good faith.

"There's been a whole series of things that have not been their fault," she says, referring particularly to the failure of ProSolvia, a high-tech company that was slated to move into the building in 1998. "But everything is good right now, and once the office building is leased, then they'll be free to go on to the next piece of the project."

That next step is the second phase of riverfront condominiums. Volunteer Landing Development has approached local developers Holrob Properties to help with the project, according to Holrob partner Bob Talbott. Talbott has said Coulter "won't have anything to do with this project."

City architect David Collins says there's little the city can do at this point about the lagging riverfront development. But he doesn't dismiss the possibility of future legal action if there's no progress. "We're anxiously awaiting some announcements from them. Volunteer Landing Development owns the building. It's theirs to lease out," he says. "But obviously, if it dragged on forever, we might want to look at what we need to do to spur them on or ask them if they want out of the picture."

—Matthew T. Everett

Saving Virtue

Farragutians fight to preserve a historic mill

"We're not asking for one red penny. We just want to save this historic structure and make something for this community." That, according to C.B. Howell, is the essence of a historic preservation battle brewing in, of all places, the Town of Farragut.

At stake is the circa-1840 Virtue Mill. Lost among the overgrowth between Virtue Road and Little Turkey Creek, the Virtue Mill was around when Farragut's namesake was still a lowly lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, years away from damning his way into history. The Mill had its own brush with war as well, playing a part in the Civil War battle of Campbell Station.

For more than a century, the Mill was, according to Howell, "a focal point for the community—it was a store, a post office, a place where people gathered." Howell, president of the non-profit Virtue Mill Company, wants to restore the mill, both as an operating mill and as a focal point for Farragut. "It would be a place for people to bring their children," he says, "someplace to draw the community together and make it a better place to live." However, Howell's non-profit group faces some serious obstacles.

The first is the condition of the mill itself. Neglected and abandoned for decades, it appears, at first glance, beyond hope. But Perry Childress of the East Tennessee Community Design Center, who has worked with Howell on restoration plans, says "I don't know that collapse is as imminent as it seems. Two-thirds of the structure is intact. It's lost only one major structural piece."

Howell, a contractor, isn't daunted by the job, either. He points out that the corporation's board includes several contractors, engineers and architects and has raised more than $30,000 in funds and in-kind materials and services. "We've got 14,000 board feet of lumber that I milled last year, large timbers—that's on hand."

The second obstacle may be more difficult: the town of Farragut, which owns the mill. According to Dan Olson, Farragut town administrator, "The original intent was to secure right of way for the eventual widening of Virtue Road." While there are no immediate plans for widening the road, Olson says that last summer a buyer from Etowah approached the town about dismantling the mill for parts. The loss of those parts, which include a cast-iron water wheel, conveyors and sifters, is what prompted Howell to pursue restoration of the mill.

Although it is one of four historic mills remaining in Knox County, what sets the Virtue Mill apart, says Howell, is the machinery: "There are several other mills still standing, but none have the mechanism in them, are as old, or have the history behind them this one does."

History or not, Olson is adamant. "My recommendation is that the board go back to the original proposal to dismantle the mill," he says. Farragut Mayor Eddy Ford agrees, saying, "The time is coming when Virtue Road is a major thoroughfare." Ford also worries about the legal burdens. "The structure itself is a liability to the town of Farragut," he says, "and we're walking on eggshells as long as it stands."

Howell disagrees, pointing out that the town has already owned the mill for 12 years. "If they don't want the liability, then sell us the property," he says. "We've got an organization willing to do this; what's the town got to lose?"

Howell's plan got a small step closer to fruition on Aug. 24. After a lengthy presentation from the Virtue Mill Company's engineers and architects, the Farragut Board of Aldermen overrode Olson's recommendation and Ford's objections, appointing a committee to study the restoration proposal. Alderman Dick Scarbrough, voting to support the study, said, "I ask people should we save the old mill and the answer is invariably yes. I would be proud to know this is a part of our community." Local preservationists spoke in support of the proposal as well. Nic Arning, Farragut resident and president of Knox Heritage, addressed the board: "It's important to build on the fabric of our heritage here. It's what holds a community together." Concord resident Bill Threlkeld, who serves on the Knox County Historic Zoning Commission, said the mill "represents a tremendous book of history, the story of where this community came from."

Mayor Ford gave his own idea of preservation, pointing out the Farragut Folklife Museum adjacent to the board chamber in the sleek, modern town hall complex. "Through that," he said, "we have an opportunity to show future residents what historic sites used to be."

—Matt Edens

Conventional Wisdom

Once we build it, who will come?

With Knoxville's new $160-million convention center in mid-construction and still aiming for a 2002 opening, local tourism officials say they are doing their best to make sure it doesn't stay empty long.

But beyond the two major events snagged by the Greater Knoxville Sports Corp.—a bowlers' confab and the Junior Olympics—details are sketchy about who exactly might be filling its plush meeting rooms.

"There are a number of proposals out," says Mike Carrier, president of the Knoxville Convention and Visitors Bureau. "There are also a number of requests in for use of the facility. All of those things will be finalized as soon as we have a contract with the operators of the building."

The city of Knoxville will own the building, but it plans to turn over operation of the entire World's Fair Park area to the Public Building Authority. In turn, PBA will contract with the Philadelphia-based convention center management company SMG to actually run the center.

PBA head Dale Smith says a final contract with SMG should be ready by the end of September. Once that's done, Carrier says SMG can officially begin booking conventions. (In another somewhat byzantine division of labor, the Convention and Visitors Bureau will do most of the marketing and recruiting for conventions, but SMG will handle the paperwork.)

All of which butts up against the reality that most sizable conventions book their locations from two to 10 years in advance. With nothing to show at the moment but a big pit and some nice drawings, Knoxville has something of a competitive disadvantage.

But Toni Sylvester of Sylvester Management in Columbia, S.C., a professional meeting planner, says that's a normal challenge for new facilities. Typically, centers compensate by offering discount rates to early bookers during their first few years.

"Normally, a pre-opening price is very reasonable, and so an association that is budget-conscious would have an opportunity to save some money that year," Sylvester says.

On the other hand, she cautions, "It's a risk, and they need to understand the risk. I would not be comfortable being one of the first ones in it, because of [the possibility of] construction delays. That's actually happened to me twice, where it looked like the facility wasn't going to be ready in time for our meeting."

Another complication is the uncertainty surrounding adjacent development. The Worsham Watkins International proposal calls for all sorts of convention-friendly accoutrements—including a Marriott "headquarters hotel"—but none of it may be decided for certain for another six months. In the meantime, Carrier says, he can tell interested parties about the various proposals on the table. "We'll be selling the facility itself and what we know for a fact is coming down the road," he says. "Right now, there's nothing concrete."

Smith says it's likely the center will have to rely on small-scale events to generate business during its first year or two. Since it's assumed the convention center will operate at a loss—as most do—the question is how much of a difference local taxpayers will have to make up. As more conventions come in, the city's tab would go down. (Under the proposed contract with SMG, the company will receive a "base management fee" to cover operating expenses, with incentive bonuses for increased business.)

"I don't think it's reasonable to think in its first year it would be booked at the capacity you'd expect in the second, third, or fourth year," Smith says.

—Jesse Fox Mayshark