Metro Pulse/Citybeat

Comment
on this story

Seven Days

Wednesday, April 16
Knoxville experiences one of the biggest public demonstrations in its history Wednesday morning. Citizens—and outside agitators—gather here to condemn the war in Iraq, support the troops, call for the lynching of Wal-Mart bar code saboteurs, ban buses, bicycles, and pedestrians from Cade's Cove and protest the closing of the Burlington firehall and the retirement of Michael Jordan, all in one massive march through the mud of Market Square and Krutch Park. You shoulda been there.

Thursday, April 17
The News Sentinel reports that a Knox County prosecutor has asked for bail of $1.24 billion in a Sessions Court case against a suspect held under 19 charges involving drugs and a police chase in which a cruiser was rammed. Osama bin Ladin couldn't make that kind of bail. On the other hand, he hasn't been arraigned in Sessions Court yet, either.

Friday, April 18
Sen. Lamar Alexander flies into Knoxville to confer with the radio gospel legend The Rev. J. Bazzel Mull and his wife about the issue of possibly dropping "under God" from the pledge of allegiance to our flag. The Rev. Mull is heard to ask, "Ain't that wrong MizzMull?"

Monday, April 21
Big headline: "State parks will not close." The new state administration says the park gates will be closed, due to the budget crunch, but the parks will stay open this year. And how about the restrooms? Nobody asked about the restrooms.

Tuesday, April 22
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp is quoted as saying it's OK for him and seven other members of Congress to accept cheap rent for rooms in a posh Capitol Hill townhouse owned by a religious foundation. The account doesn't specify whether the "non-denominational" religious group is Islamic, Buddhist, Christian, or what.

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:
Sometimes we think we've discovered a difficult Knoxville oddity for Knoxville Found, and we get dozens of responses; sometimes we think we're offering an obvious one, and nobody gets it. Such was the case with last week's photo. To last issue's Knoxville Found we had exactly one response, from "Jeremy at Gourmet's Market." He knew that the photo in question showed some images on the curb outside his place of employment, presumably because he works there and has therefore seen them. But you'd think somebody else would've noticed them and responded. Alas, no. Jeremy had no competition.

And so it is with great pride that Jeremy should receive his prize, the subversive cartoon book, Ignoring Binky: The Life and Times of Victor Evertor. Enjoy it, Jeremy, you earned it.

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

NINE COUNTIES. ONE VISION.
Thursday, April 24
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Knoxville Convention Center
Room 301
525 Henley St.
Public meeting about downtown revitalization to discuss options, suggest new ideas, and vote on favorites.

AIR QUALITY SUMMIT
Friday, April 25
8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
UT Conference Center
Henley St., downtown
Local, state, and federal air quality agency representatives will discuss improving air quality.

CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, April 29
7 p.m.
Rocky Hill School
1200 Morrell Rd.
Regular meeting.

CITY BUDGET LUNCHEON
Wednesday, April 30
12 p.m.
Williams Creek Golf Course (East Knoxville)
Parking at Mt. Zion Baptist Church
2714 Brooks Rd.
The city's budget will be announced.

COUNTY COMMISSION
Monday, April 28
City County Building
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Regular meeting.

Hurry, Sundown
Concert series to go on without city money

A few years ago, Scott West wrote a letter to the city asking it to support a weekly concert series on Market Square called Sundown in the City. West, who owns Earth To Old City with his wife, wrote that he wanted to buy and develop some buildings on Market Square, but "only if events and programming like Sundown in the City were to happen on Market Square."

The city funded the series, which turned out to be wildly successful, drawing thousands to downtown each Thursday night of each season. West and his partners bought six addresses on Market Square, one of which is now the popular Preservation Pub. He's renovating the other spaces for residential and commercial use.

In part because of the success of Sundown in the City, Market Square is undergoing an $8.8 million renovation, paid for by the city.

But the city has pulled funding on the Sundown catalyst of revitalization. Faced with a severe budget crunch, the city administration won't fund the series. Sundown's promoter—AC Entertainment—has vowed to put together the series with private funding, but it likely won't be as big as it has in previous years.

West is baffled by the city's decision. "It was extremely uplifting and exciting to see that kind of energy downtown. That really got us rolling on the Market Square stuff," he says of the concerts and crowds they drew. "You've got to question the loss of momentum greatly. Right now, what we're doing in development on Market Square, I can't imagine stopping. The idea of stopping when you haven't achieved the goal shocks me a little."

The city administration had originally planned to fund Sundown at $100,000 this year, the same as last. But with a shortfall in state funding, the possibility of jobs being cut and rising health insurance costs, the city needed to reduce spending, says Mickey Foley, Knoxville's special events director. The decision not to fund Sundown was made by several department heads and Mayor Victor Ashe, she says.

"We just did not think it would be a wise thing to grant the funding for Sundown," Foley says. City administrators will look at other ways they can support the concerts and will consider funding it in the future, she says.

The Thursday night concerts showed off the potential downtown had for redevelopment. Since that series started, a number of buildings on Market Square and nearby downtown have been renovated , and several new businesses have opened. Renovations on the square are to provide more room for public events and make it more attractive for commerce.

Although the final product may be beautiful, the square is now a fenced off area of dirt, gravel and construction vehicles. The construction is expected to last until at least June.

David Dewhirst, who owns several buildings downtown and is a principal in the Kinsey Probasco team redeveloping the square itself, says Sundown has been an undeniable boon.

"It's been incredible to get 3,000 to 4,000 people downtown every week in Market Square," he says. "It would have been an incredibly good tie-in to finish up the square and have the Sundown series start right at that point. My biggest concern is that we find a way to get it back next year.

"Our problem with Sundown in the past is we had all these people show up and the buildings weren't renovated, so there was nothing for them to go do afterwards. This year, there'll be so much more for them to do. And next year, if we have [the concerts], there'll be not just three or four places open, but a broad offering of things."

Sundown will happen this year, using private sponsors, insists AC Entertainment spokesman Ted Heinig. "We are still going to do it. To what extent at this point remains to be seen. Sundown's on, but we're not sure about the location or how many [shows]," Heinig says. "I don't want to blame the city because I understand what they're going through.... When you've got to balance the budget, you've got to balance the budget."

Heinig wouldn't give specifics on how many private sponsors AC Entertainment has lined up for Sundown. He said Budweiser and Coke—two big sponsors from past years—want to be involved.

But part of the problem with getting sponsors for the event is that it is uncertain where the first shows will be held. Tentative plans had been made to start Sundown in early June at the World's Fair Park until the square was ready. However, Heinig says AC is now looking at a couple of other locations around downtown. He wouldn't name those potential sites, but similar outdoor concerts and festivals have been held in the Old City, on Gay Street, at Volunteer Landing, and in Chilhowee Park.

"The main obstacle has been the readiness of Market Square. Long term, everybody wants to see the event at Market Square in the newly designed space. Everybody's excited about that," Heinig says. "At this point, there are a lot of moving variables. The first one is trying to pin down a contingency site, so we can get the sponsors on board and then we can get the artists on board, et cetera, et cetera."

AC Entertainment had hoped to book bigger profile acts for the series this year. But without city funding and with the square not immediately available, that probably won't happen, he says.

"I'm confident the event is going to happen [this year]," Heinig says. "Perhaps next year's the year to grow it."

—Joe Tarr

Overlay Overlord
Ashe pushes downtown preservation zoning

Mayor Victor Ashe wants to impose Historic Overlay (H-1) zoning on all downtown buildings eligible for its protections against demolition or alteration. Upwards of 200 buildings more than 50 years old meet eligibility criteria, according to Metropolitan Planning Commission staff estimates.

In a letter to MPC's executive director, Norm Whitaker, Ashe states that, "the City would like to move...toward placing H-1 designations on all eligible downtown structures, since I feel this is the most urgent need. Protecting our historically significant properties from demolition is of paramount importance."

But Ashe is not planning to proceed in the adversarial way in which he sought H-1 zoning for the Sprankle Building to block Home Federal Bank's plans to tear it down to make way for a parking lot. Rather, he endorsed MPC staff recommendations for proceeding with informational meetings for property owners as well as public hearings, all in hopes of eliciting broad-based support. "I concur that this effort should follow your normal process, ensuring public input and majority support as it moves forward," the mayor wrote Whitaker.

Just how much support the effort will get is a matter for conjecture. Last summer, the Central Business Improvement District, made up of downtown property owners, requested an MPC study of the use of H-1 or other restrictive zoning alternatives "in determining the best method of preserving downtown's rich, historic building inventory." And the CBID's chairman, developer Wayne Blasius has been particularly supportive of H-1 zoning along Gay Street.

But the more than 200 eligible buildings pervade the entirety of downtown. The president of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, Mike Edwards, cautions that, "If we are truly going to proceed with meaningful preservation, we've got to find a way to balance historic preservation with property rights and needs for new development. We don't have to have one at the expense of the other."

The executive director of the Historic Zoning Commission, Ann Bennett, says that "at a minimum, H-1 ought to include things listed on the National Register of Historic Places." But she, too, is cautionary on several counts. "We shouldn't be designating things that have been altered or that don't have historic significance. In a vibrant downtown it's important to attract all kinds of investment, including new buildings. Even cities with wall-to-wall historic districts, such as Charleston and Savannah, have provided space for new development."

City Council has to approve any H-1 zoning, and it has already done so for all of Market Square and several other downtown structures including the Miller's Building, Old City Hall, and the Post Office (not to mention Blount Mansion and James White Fort). The Sprankle Building remains in a holding pattern, with Mayor Ashe's application for H-1 zoning held in abeyance so long as Home Federal desists from seeking a demolition permit to tear the building down.

Once in place, H-1 virtually precludes a building's demolition and sets guidelines for any modifications of its exterior. But it doesn't impose restrictions on interior renovations or uses of a building.

Ashe's letter to Whitaker was in response to a set of MPC staff recommendations that were spurred at least in part by the CBID request. These recommendations were to:

1. Apply H-1 (Historic) zoning overlays to downtown properties eligible for or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Ideally these should be a product of a cooperative voluntary process...

2. Adopt urban design guidelines for the areas of downtown not eligible on the National Register...[by] creating an Urban Design Overlay that could be placed on non-historic properties. The overlay would require development plan review for compliance with adopted urban design guidelines.

While embracing the first recommendation, Ashe invoked budgeting constraints to defer proceeding with the second. "Recognizing that there may be an estimated one-time expense associated with preparing the design guidelines, we would then like to pursue the Urban Design Overlay recommendation upon completion of the first step...Over the next several months, my staff will look at ways to fund the one-time cost associated with drafting the design guidelines including broaching the subject of funding of these costs with the CBID, whose board...asked us to launch this effort."

As Whitaker envisions it, "The Urban Design Overlay would be an addition to the city's zoning ordinance...It should allow downtown to continue to evolve. Certain parts derive value from historic, but it wouldn't be good urban design to require new buildings to mimic the architectural style of old ones. I wouldn't recommend a Disneyesque design scheme where we copy historic styles."

He suggests that "the civic vision for downtown Knoxville embodied in the Nine Counties/One Vision process could be a starting point. The work that their consultants, Crandall Arambula, is doing is based on those principles, and it would make complete sense for the guidelines to flow out of that."

But to complete the guidelines, Whitaker believes that MPC would need a consultant of its own. And that's where the budgetary rub comes. MPC is funded just about co-equally by the city and Knox County, but its $1.5 million budget doesn't allow for such a consultant unless it were to cut back on some other set of ongoing functions.

—Joe Sullivan