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Seven Days

Wednesday, Nov. 28
In announcing the closure of the Gay Street Bridge for two years for repairs, TDOT says it will recommend no alternate route. That's just because the state didn't want to refer to the "Bridge to Nowhere" on big detour signs.

Thursday, Nov. 29
Bill Lyons, board chairman of KCDC and a Victor Ashe appointee to that board, names two of Mayor Ashe's political nemeses, Carlene Malone and Lynn Redmon, to a Market Square redevelopment review panel. Lyons is promptly scratched from the mayor's Christmas party invitations list.
It's revealed that Tennessee's state government has given hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of consultant contracts to well-connected Republicans. Just goes to show that the state's GOP administration learned something from the Democrat-dominated TVA of the Craven Crowell years.

Friday, Nov. 30
Bill Baxter, former economic and community development director for the Sundquist administration, is sworn in as a TVA board member. The Republican Party is offered space for an "office of contractual consultancy" in the TVA Towers.
Five state parks are shut down and locked in a money-saving move by the Sundquist administration, which revealed it is also looking into using the locked down parks as prison camps to further conserve tight funds as the need for more prison space is discussed.

Saturday, Dec. 1
Nothing that can be conclusively proven occurs.

Sunday, Dec. 2
Tennesseans awake in puzzlement over whether they only dreamt the Vols beat Florida.

Monday, Dec. 3
Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner pushes for a city amusement tax of 1.5 percent. Tourist attraction owners say that would amount to 1.5 percent of nothing, since they are not amused at all by the proposal.
The governor's office announces that the Executive Residence will be open for Christmas tours. The admission fee will be a flat 3 percent of adjusted gross income, according to his press office.

Tuesday, Dec. 4
UT Athletic Director Doug Dickey says most state officials won't be entitled to free tickets to the SEC championship football game in Atlanta. Many are heard grumbling that they'll just have to move, along with the state's schoolteachers, to Georgia where both the money and perks are better.
The News-Sentinel reacts with astonishment that other entertainment forms in Knoxville will go on as scheduled despite the Saturday night SEC title game. Otherwise, life as we know it here has been postponed until Sunday, the paper announces.

Knoxville Found

(Click photo for larger image)

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:
There's no business like show business. And there's no show business palace like the Bijou Theatre, our newly restored (albeit financially struggling) gem on South Gay Street. These celestial details are from the vaulted ceiling. Not surprisingly, several identifications came from people who have spent a fair amount of time looking at that ceiling. That includes our winner, thespian-turned-law student Jessamy Thomison, who got in the first correct response despite having the geographic handicap of currently attending school in New York City. (She was actually one of two right answers to emanate from the Big Apple this week.) To help keep Jessamy grounded up there in that big ol' town, we're happy to send her the newly issued Rocky Top Album, a CD featuring Del McCoury, Charlie Daniels, and other assorted artists giving their own renditions of our regional anthem. Play it loud! And when that turtleneck-wearin', espresso-sippin', Kafka-quotin' sissy from down the hall asks you to turn it down, remind him what happened to the strangers who went lookin' for that moonshine still.

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

KNOX COUNTY COMMISSION
Thursday Dec. 6
1:30 p.m.
City County Bldg., Large Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Special workshop session on the proposals for Universe Knoxville and the county's potential role in the project.

UT BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Tuesday Dec. 11
2 p.m.
Andy Holt Tower, Meeting Room 800
Ideas for prioritizing current funds and a 10-year plan for student housing here will be discussed.

KNOXVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday Dec. 11
7 p.m.
City County Bldg., Large Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Regular meeting.

METROPOLITAN PLANNING COMMISSION
Thursday Dec. 13
1:30 p.m.
City County Bldg., Large Assembly Room
400 Main Ave.
Regular session.

New Leaders

Will Council freshmen force a change in vice mayor when they take office?

A movement to replace Jack Sharp as vice mayor could ultimately come down to whether the man some want for the job wants it himself.

Councilman-elect Mark Brown has been proposed as an alternative to Sharp, who has long been seen Mayor Victor Ashe's right-hand man. Sharp angered many last year when he nominated Raleigh Wynn to fill out the rest of the late Danny Mayfield's term, instead of his widow, Missy Mayfield, who was the more popular choice. His action sparked a recall movement that sought to unseat Ashe and half of City Council—a movement that ultimately failed.

Brown won election to Mayfield's old seat, and will take office Dec. 15, along with four other newcomers. According to sources, Brown would have at least four votes for the seat. That would make the deciding vote Brown's.

Although the mayor doesn't have a vote on Council, Ashe has enough sway over current Council members that his wishes could have an impact.

At least publicly, Brown doesn't seem to have much desire for the job.

"It's really very flattering," Brown says. "It's not something I'm actively campaigning for. I'm not giving it any consideration. There'd have to be a major draft for it to happen, not only from the new people coming on Council but from the existing ones. Then I would give it more consideration."

Rob Frost, councilman-elect in the 4th district, says there are pros and cons to naming a new vice mayor. "One of the bad things about term limits is you lose experienced leadership. Jack Sharp has been there [as vice mayor] for 10 years now. He's got a lot of experienced leadership," Frost says. "In two more years, we're going to have four other new people on Council, and a new mayor. We could have even greater growing pains in two years, so you've got to start working on new leadership now."

Frost sees naming Brown vice mayor as a way of grooming new leadership and easing the transition when the remaining incumbents and mayor leave office in 2003.

Pavlis agrees that Council needs to prepare for a turnover in two years. Along with a new vice mayor, he'd like to see freshman councilmen running the Council's various committees, including the Beer Board, which Pavlis now heads. "I think the new class should be the ones who take these positions," he says.

Pavlis says swapping vice mayors isn't about Sharp's performance. However, he adds that it could go a long way toward mending old wounds. "Any time that you're an incumbent, you've made a minimum of 33 percent of the folks out there mad," he says. "I think there is some division in this city, and this could help bring us back together."

"Mark was the leading vote getter. He has tremendous support citywide because of that. It would mean a lot to the 6th District," he says. "I think the votes are there for Mark, if he wants to do it."

—Joe Tarr

Crossville Crossover

The director of the successful Cumberland Playhouse comes to the Bijou

Jim Crabtree says he knows the difference between revenue-driven and mission-driven arts. Revenue-driven programming brings in the crowds and pays the bills. Mission-driven programming enlightens the audience, allows you to do something different and gives a theater a sense of purpose.

You need both types of shows to run a successful theater, says Crabtree, who takes over as executive director of the Bijou Theatre on Jan. 1. In trying to get the financially troubled theater into the black, Crabtree says he'll look for the right mix of mission- and revenue-driven programming. Although many in the arts and theater crowd look at the big revenue shows as schlock, Crabtree says both can be good.

"I look for the entertainment value in art and I look for the art in entertainment," Crabtree says.

The 56-year-old Crabtree has been director of the Cumberland County Playhouse, which his parents founded, in Crossville for 25 years. The Cumberland has been remarkably successful, and some of its shows have played at the Bijou, including Smoke On The Mountain and Honk!

Crabtree will remain director of the Cumberland, splitting his time between the two theaters.

"We were looking at several different options for the theater when we learned Mr. Crabtree had interest in the Bijou," says Mike Hammond, chairman of the Bijou's board of directors. "Frankly, we were floored when he indicated he had an interest."

The Bijou is struggling financially, with a debt of about $500,000 from its renovation in '97 and '98. The theater expected to spend $1.8 million, but the renovation actually cost $2.1 million. And a donor who had pledged $200,000 was only able to put up $50,000 because of his own financial troubles.

The Bijou ended up borrowing from the bank to cover the renovations, but in recent months has been behind on its bills. Hammond says the board is going to work with Crabtree in developing a plan to deal with its debt.

Crabtree says the debt doesn't scare him. He hopes to bring in a lot more money through ticket sales. The Cumberland Playhouse makes about 83 percent of its revenue through ticket sales, says Crabtree, adding that may be higher than ideal. The Bijou is at about 70 percent. Other revenue comes from grants and donations.

"If we're able to add a couple hundred thousand in earned revenue, I hope that the other revenue doesn't become a smaller piece of the pie. I hope it grows with the earned revenue because the two work together," he says.

Crabtree says he's still getting to know the Bijou and Knoxville, but he has several ideas for how to increase revenue.

He aims for diversity, both in theater shows and concerts. He'll have the benefit of bringing Cumberland-produced plays to the Bijou. However, he intends for the Bijou to continue producing its own shows, which would ideally end up playing in other regional theaters. "This is not Playhouse East. This is the Bijou Theatre Center. I'm pleased to have the resources of the Cumberland County Playhouse for one dimension of programming," he says.

He's planning on meeting with Knoxville's many arts companies—the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Opera Company, the Knoxville Choral Society, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, Circle Modern Dance, among many others—to get them more involved with the Bijou.

And he'd like a good mix of fine and popular arts concerts, including classical, jazz, bluegrass and pops.

"One of the philosophies I've sort of operated on in coming to East Tennessee is that the fiddle and violin are friends who really ought to get to know each other a little better," Crabtree says. "It seems to me that the Bijou is a wonderful place to do that."

—Joe Tarr