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Seven Days

Wednesday, November 20
A Council majority goes along with Mayor Ashe's proposal to place a four-acre South Knoxville park slap-dab in the path of the James White Parkway extension, which the mayor vigorously opposes. But the park's designation has nothing to do with the parkway extension. Huh-uh, no, negative. How could anyone think such a thing?

Thursday, November 21
The Knox County fire marshal asks the county school administration to spend $15 million to bring schools up to fire code.
The schools aren't even up to fire code? Then don't buy books. They just add to the fire risk.

Friday, November 22
Mayor Ashe issues a last-minute reprieve to the Tennessee Amphitheatre, a relic of the 1982 World's Fair. Dolly Parton fans exhale.

Saturday, November 23
UT defeats Vanderbilt in football for the umpteenth straight time. Who knew Vanderbilt played football? Show of hands.
In the no joy in Mudville department, Ye Olde Steak House catches fire and may or may not be rebuilt.

Monday, November 25
A federal judge brings the whole Knox County Commission to court to explain why the county jail is overcrowded. The commissioners, the sheriff, and the district attorney general confer and explain to the judge that they can't agree on whether the sun is shiny. The judge appoints a special master to help them decide.

Tuesday, November 26
Knoxville's 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit whose mission is to help rebuild governments ravaged by war, will be home from its year in Afghanistan for Thanksgiving, it's reported. Eat hearty, troopers, "W" may have you in Iraq before Christmas.

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:
Several readers identified last week's Knoxville Found photo as one of the slabs on the "Walk of Fame" in front of the old Capri Cinema Theatre, now home to Bennett Galleries. One reader remembered seeing Batman there in 1990. Another remembered that one of the Capri's slogans was "Your Rocking Chair Theatre." Yet another identified the movie celebrated in the concrete as J.W. Coop, which came out in 1971 and was directed by and starred Cliff Robertson. Which is all well and good. There's only one problem: The walk is no longer in front of the former Capri building. It was taken up and placed at the now-defunct Terrace Tap Theatre sometime in the '90s. Ha-ha! Fooled you! Only one respondent, David Atkins, Coordinator of Interlibrary Systems for UT, correctly placed the walk in its current location. So kudos to Dave. His reward is Love, Santa: A Different Kind of Christmas Story, which we hope helps Dave and his family keep the spirit of the season.

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

POWELL TO BRICKEY SCHOOL ZONE CHANGE
Tuesday, Dec. 3
6 p.m.
Brickey School Gym
1810 Dry Gap Pk.
Review of rezoning of some Powell students into the Brickey School zone.

CBID BROWN BAG MEETING
Tuesday, Dec. 3
12 p.m.
Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership
601 West Summit Hill Drive
New proposed Development Incentive Guidelines will be discussed.

ROCKY HILL TO SEQUOYAH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ZONE CHANGE
Thursday, Dec. 5
6:30 p.m.
Sequoyah School gym
942 Southgate St.
Rezoning review.

School Crossing
Economic times have dramatic impact on Knoxville College

Since losing accreditation and narrowly surviving extinction in 1996, Knoxville College has made a spirited transition to a school focused on an ambitious work-study program. The institution has partnerships with more than 30 Knoxville businesses, and this fall's freshman class of over 100 students was the largest the college has enrolled in years.

However, a couple of recently filed lawsuits indicate that the school is not out of the financial woods. Last month, Wackenhut Corp., one of the nation's largest private security companies, sued the college in Knox County Chancery Court. Wackenhut claims Knoxville College owes it over $122,000 for security services rendered in 2000 and 2001. According to the filing by Wackenhut attorney Bob Orem, the company and the school negotiated a settlement under which Knoxville College would make payments on its debt this fall. But the school did not come through.

Meanwhile, a faculty member named Paul Alatorre sued Knoxville College last week for back wages. In that suit, filed in civil sessions court in Knoxville, Alatorre says the school owes him and other faculty members for three pay periods' worth of work. "I honestly believe this lawsuit will help a lot of people who are suffering from not getting paid," says Alatorre, who teaches communications.

Knoxville College says it intends to settle both issues as soon as possible—in fact its president, Barbara Hatton, says the Wackenhut situation should be resolved in a matter of days. "This week I am going to have an infusion of cash, and all of our financial obligations should be put up to date," she says. She acknowledges that Knoxville College has had a tough year financially.

However, she says its future is a bright one, and says the financial issues that the school is facing are temporary. She is also more convinced than ever that the strategy she employed when she came to Knoxville College five years ago is the right one.

"We are a new place with new ideas and a new vision, and there has been a real outpouring on behalf of the school," she says. "The problem is getting the cash to meet immediate obligations and move the organization beyond this spot."

Hatton says that the recession hurt the predominantly black school in two ways. One is that the school's main endowment produced almost no income last year because the stock market performed so badly. The other is that after raising $2.1 million in fiscal year 2000 and $2.6 million in fiscal 2001, the school only raised about $1.8 million last year. "The world changed last year (with the recession) and we were lulled into thinking that our successful pattern would not turn around," she says. "But it did."

Hatton says the school is attempting to raise $8 million over the next three years: $5 million from corporate donors and $3 million from alumni. (This is an ambitious goal, since the school communicates with only about 5,000 former students.) Meanwhile, it is attempting to become re-accredited with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in mid-January. If it does, Hatton says Knoxville College will have access to some federal funds that are set up to support work-study programs. The success of both of these initiatives will help the 125-year-old Knoxville College stabilize itself and renovate many of the buildings on its campus, some of which are badly in need of repair.

No matter what happens, Hatton believes the future of her school rests with the work-study concept, which she says can do a better job of preparing students for careers than a more traditional system under which students are responsible for their own tuition.

"We don't want our students to have to ask for tuition loans," she says. "Those are a trap. We want them to leave here debt free."

Under the current program, each of Knoxville College's 315 students is required to intern at a local business for between 10 and 20 hours a week. Students are not paid cash, but earn tuition dollars that are given directly to the college and cover part of the cost of their education. (Even with work-study programs, however, Knoxville College has to raise about half of the cost of student education through private donations.) Meanwhile, students also take a full slate of classes.

Hatton's vision for Knoxville College is largely based on the system in place at Berea College, a school in central Kentucky where every student is required to work. "We want to do what Berea has done, only in an urban setting," Hatton says.

About 35 businesses participate in Knoxville College work-study, but the flagship of the program is the Pilot store at the corner of Western and University avenues. The store is a joint venture between the college and Pilot Oil; the college owns half, the company owns half. Profits are split between the institution and the firm, and all but one of the store's 21 employees are Knoxville College students working for tuition.

Hatton says that the school's relationships with the business community are growing fast. "We haven't lost any sponsors yet," she adds. She says she is working on a couple of joint ventures right now and eventually hopes to add a fast-food business to the Pilot store.

Hatton says that the lawsuits are "unfortunate," but argues that neither of them reflects the situation at Knoxville College. "The Wackenhut case is a complicated one, and has to do with the fact that we employed a third-party firm that in turn employed Wackenhut," she says. "But we should not have let the bill get that high." Regarding the faculty lawsuit, Hatton says that some teachers and professors have been paid late. "We will pay everyone every penny that we owe them with interest," she says. But she adds that "this is private business, and we resent making it a public issue."

Alatorre argues otherwise, saying the pattern under which the school paid him late started last spring and got worse this fall. "I hope this suit will open the floodgates so that not only me but other faculty members will start getting paid on time," he says. "And I feel bad for the full-time faculty that have been there for many, many years who are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation."

Knoxville College was founded in 1875 and has historic ties to the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church, which still contributes to the school. A part of the school's mission is to serve students who, according to the school's charter, "have been afforded little advantage" within society.

Hatton says that about 90% of Knoxville College's students are African American, and that most of the students come from large cities across the United States. "A lot of them can't afford to fly or drive, so they actually still take the bus," she says. "But they really appreciate the opportunities offered to them when they get here."

—Bill Carey

What It Will Look Like
Five Points revitalization focuses on shopping plaza

Residents and local officials Saturday looked at three different plans for a Five Points shopping plaza that City Councilman Mark Brown hopes can be built next year.

On what is now mostly a vacant lot at Martin Luther King Jr. and Ben Hur Avenues, the plaza would include a 22,500-square-foot grocery store and 12,000 square feet of retail or office space.

People have been making plans for the blighted neighborhood for decades. The city spent money realigning the streets and attracting a Dollar General to the area, and there have been some home improvements made through low-income loans. But it has been to little avail—the neighborhood remains one of the city's poorest, with a reputation for drug dealing, crime, and violence.

But with funding possibly available through the Empowerment Zone and talk of a grocery store on the property, some are encouraged again. "I'd love for this thing to be done by December of next year," Brown says.

On Saturday, three architectural concepts were presented: a suburban model (with the grocery store and retail shops connected and a large parking lot out front); a campus design (which spread the buildings and parking lots around the property); and a city scape design (with the buildings close to the street and parking in the rear). Both the cityscape and campus plans included a park and gazebo area at the corner of Ben Hur and MLK that could be used for outdoor concerts and festivals.

Residents preferred some mix of the suburban and campus plans. They wanted a plaza that would be easily accessible by foot and car, along with good lighting and a safe environment.

For stores, they wanted something that would be unique, having an African or African-American theme. Some said they'd like the plaza to attract people from all over the area. The Five Points Advisory Committee will incorporate the comments into a draft report, Brown says.

The cost of the plaza is unknown at this time, since it depends on how elaborate the design might be and what types of materials are used.

The city budgeted $600,000 for site planning and property acquisition last year. Brown says he'll ask for more money in next year's budget, but doesn't know how much yet. They'd also look to the county and Empowerment Zone funds and grants for funding.

Terrence Carter, executive director of the Partnership for Neighborhood Improvement, says right now there is about $1.5 million available for neighborhood commercial development in the EZ funds. How much might be awarded to a Five Points project is unknown, he says. "It really just depends on the overall cost and the other sources of funding out there," Carter says.

Earlier this year, a supermarket consultant determined that a supermarket at the site was economically feasible. John Davis, who now runs a convenience store on the property, hopes to be the one who will manage the grocery store here. He says the plaza is just one part of the revitalization. "I'm glad there's a forum so people can give input," he says. "But, one thing that wasn't discussed was housing...We have to re-seed our housing stock."

Brown says the revitalization won't end with the plaza. Once it is completed, he'll look at what can be done to renovate other parts of the neighborhood and encourage more residential.

Carter says the PNI is hiring a consultant to look at ways historical sites in the Empowerment Zone can be linked and used to attract tourists and visitors.

—Joe Tarr