Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground

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Gargoyled Gencay

For the past decade or so, one of the more difficult issues faced by those who were attempting to revitalize downtown was the eccentric property management style of Frank Gencay, owner of the majority of the buildings on the east side of Market Square, as well as those on Wall Street between the Square and Gay Street, plus the old Gay Street buildings formerly known as Baker Shoes and the Lerner Shop. To say that most of Gencay's buildings were in need of repair is a monumental understatement. He was once cited for fire code violations while being interviewed by a Metro Pulse reporter. He filed a high-dollar lawsuit against an affable Market Square beat cop who wrote him a ticket for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The now defunct 1998 Market Square Plan, which was meant to allow the city to condemn neglected buildings, was inspired by Gencay.

In recent years, however, he has cooperated with Scott and Bernadette West, who are buying and renovating several of his Market Square buildings. The Wests, proprietors of Preservation Pub and Earth to Old City, appeared before the Historic Zoning Commission late last month to submit designs for their latest project—four new-fangled gargoyles representing the elements and the owners. Designed by artist Bob Clouse, one looks like Bernadette and represents fire; the one that looks like Scott West is water; Bernadette's mother Rosemarie Trent is earth. The fourth is a wild-haired old gent with pooched-out cheeks who looks like he's blowing out a hundred birthday candles.

Frank Gencay, scourge of Market Square, is going to be there forever, carved in stone as wind. Bernadette West says she understands that a lot of people will find it ironic that Gencay will be so memorialized, "But he's very integral to me being able to do the stuff I wanted to do on Market Square. Yes, he did hold back progress, but because of him holding it back, I'm able see my vision come to life."

New in the Evening Sky

Little Star restaurant is open in the former Chef Bistro location on Kingston Pike in Bearden. John McKee, the owner, proprietor and chef, says the food is American, but a look on line at www.littlestardining.com reveals a menu that represents a sort of eclectic/fusion American concept, with a West Coast flair. "I'm from the West Coast," McKee says. A three-course set menu at $38 per person is the basis. Reservations, the boss says, are recommended (558-0210). A Southern Californian, McKee has been in the catering business here for two years.

Grid-dled

Following UT's basketball loss to LSU last Saturday night, a group of fans who had stayed until the end was passing in front of Gibbs Hall on the way to their cars. A football player, standing on one of the balconies with a couple of his teammates, yelled down at them: "You all must have thought they were coming back when they got within 9, didn't you?" One of the fans quickly quieted the situation with the comeback: "I stayed until the end at the Peach Bowl, too."