Metro Pulse/Snarls/The Hole Story

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The death of Universe Knoxville, and others

by Scott McNutt

Last Friday, after months of wandering about as a zombified carcass, the Project Formerly Known As Universe Knoxville was mercifully put to rest by the County Executive's office. (The "Formerly Known As" designation is required because a downtown wag named Brent Minchey recently purchased the name "Universe Knoxville" and incorporated it as a nonprofit organization. So in a sense, Universe Knoxville is alive and well. But I think you get the point.)

Of course, without UK, a question remains; namely, "How the heck did we end up having an overgrown hole next to State Street for almost three years now?"

The origins of the problem are lost in the misty recesses of the last century, when a row of buildings, some vacant, some historic and housing a few businesses, occupied what's now the big hole. Way back then (1996), the city proposed to build a baseball stadium

there. But the city and the Smokies couldn't play ball, so the Smokies took their ball and went off to play closer to their namesakes. Naturally, the Powers That Be were not going to let a proposal to knock some buildings down be thwarted by the simple fact that there was no longer a reason to knock them down: The county plopped a different project there in 1997.

This was the justice center complex, which was to contain local and state courts, a new jail, sheriff's offices, a helipad for the sheriff's 'copter fleet, and a sheriffcave for the sheriffmobile. Many observers applauded, enthusiastically exclaiming that a great big jail rubbing shoulders with Knoxville's entertainment district was exactly what downtown needed.

Well, the buildings were eventually knocked down in early 2000. But this project didn't work out, either. Sheriff Tim Hutchison and County Commission became embroiled in a lawsuit. And DA Randy Nichols, feeling his oats, opposed the center. And the state courts, which were never technically "in" the project, pulled "out." And the downtown organization City People plus an upstart assemblage of cybercitizens called k2k started questioning the need for the whole thing. And so Tim's tinkertoy was never assembled.

However, the State Street hole remained a hole, because, suddenly, everyone's gaze was drawn to Market Square and beyond, where were proposed the lofty spires and glistening domes of the Next Big Silver Bullet Thing, AKA Renaissance Knoxville, as conceived by Worsham Watkins Incorporated.

RK (pronounced "urk") offered much to pique the imagination: Futuristic, hamster-trail-like, climate-controlled corridors snaking from a gigantic, hermetically sealed, skyline-statement-making office tower, to a domed-over, access-restricted, homeless-person-free Market Square. This maze of sky-high corridors was to be lined with many sizzling, festive SHOPPERTUNITY!� "experiences." All this for a public price tag of only $160 million. Yes, such a bold concept could only be envisioned by a grand imagination.

Unfortunately, RK came crashing to earth when some of its supporting components also were revealed to be figments of imagination.

For many developers, this would have been cause to say, "Enough!" But, WWWWW? That is, "What Would Worsham Watkins Want?" The answer is, of course, "More." More public funds, that is. After a small respite, Worsham Watkins re-emerged—this time in the still-gaping hole on State, where they proposed to build The Next Big Silver Bullet Thing, AKA Universe Knoxville.

UK (pronounced "uhk") offered many potential experiences. For instance, in developer Worsham's words, UK's "food court [would] not be a dining experience. It [would] be a convenience experience." Similarly, UK itself would "not just be an educational experience; it [would] also be an entertainment experience." These and other experiences were to be housed in a peculiarly shaped building ("statement-making," in Developerese), which was sort of Renaissance Knoxville's gigantic tower, spires, and dome all globbed together in one structure. The public's contribution to this endeavor would have been a mere pittance, a steal, at only $40 million or so. But maybe Universe Knoxville was an educational experience.

Which brings us to last Friday, when it was proclaimed, tearfully, that UK had gone to join RK in the Next Big Silver Bullet Thing Arsenal in the Sky.

So here we are, still with the big hole on State Street. And perhaps it should stay that way. Because, even though not all of them died there, that spot has some claim to being Knoxville's Next Silver Bullet Thing Graveyard.