Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

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What:
Knox Heritage 2003 Annual Meeting & Preservation Awards

When:
Thursday, Nov. 6, 5 - 7:30 p.m.

Where:
Knoxville Museum of Art

by Matt Edens

As beautiful as it undoubtedly is, the J. Allen Smith house on Lyons View Drive was never my first choice for preservation's poster child.

But you take what you get. And a win is still a win—just ask Phil Fulmer.

Now don't get me wrong. I thought the idea of bulldozing the house for a putting green and parking was idiotic to the point of hubris—even without the million-dollar price tag the club paid for what, by their reckoning, amounted to a vacant lot. And I certainly appreciated how the squabble over the Smith House suddenly made historic preservation something politicians—whether they were lame ducks or aspirants—suddenly paid heed. But at the same time I worried, while the story dominated the headlines—and the airwaves—for several weeks last summer, that the battle on Lyons View was sending the wrong message: that preservation was a luxury item, the concern of rich people in the ritzy part of town.

You see, the majority of Knoxville's historic buildings aren't million-dollar real estate. They (perhaps luckily) aren't next door to county clubs. And quite often the only bulldozers threatening them are from codes enforcement rather than the stereotypical "greedy developers"—for the simple reason that they're in parts of town that the mainstream development community—much less the likes of Cherokee Country Club—wrote off years ago. Which, in a way, is what made the Smith House such a watershed moment. If we can't see the value in one of the most stunning homes ever built in this burg—and at an address that's still cache—can we reasonably expect that places like Mechanicsville or Market Square have a future?

I, for one, am optimistic. Because while folks were dickering over whether the country club could leave a giant-sized divot on Lyons View Pike, historic preservation was stealing a march or two on multiple fronts across town. And whether it's seizing major bridgeheads downtown with projects like the Sterchi, Emporium and Phoenix or slowly winning the slogging house-by-house battles of neighborhood revitalization—the realization is slowly sinking in that historic preservation is a cost-effective strategy for center-city revitalization.

Just ask the folks at Knox Heritage. Coming off its first full year with full-time staff and with lines of credit (not to mention lines of communication) with the National Trust, the organization has evolved from advocacy group to a major non-profit player in center-city redevelopment

And I do mean major. Knox Heritage's connections with the National Trust brought $6 million to the table for restoration of the Tennessee Theater. Its advocacy also not only helped save Old South High from imminent demolition, but its technical assistance helped secure a private redevelopment proposal to assure the South Knoxville landmark's future. And its Vintage Homes program restored three homes in the Parkridge neighborhood and sold them to homeowners—more than $300,000 of private investment in East Knoxville.

Guess that's why they feel like celebrating with a cocktail party at the KMA. Feel free to join them and guest speaker Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For the party—it's free to the public—or as members.