Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

Park City Presbyterian
2204 Linden Avenue
8,800 sq ft
+1,700 sq. ft. parsonage
$175,000
Contact: Opal Dalton
Owner: 689-0663

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Spreading the gospel of revitalization

by Matt Edens

Iam not exactly what you’d call religious, but when it comes to Knoxville’s center city, I’m definitely a believer. That’s what this column is, more or less: spreading the gospel of how the revitalization of Knoxville’s historic “soul” may very well be key to the salvation of our economy and environment (or, at the very least, our tax base).

It’ll take a lot of faith—an evangelical belief that the city’s historic heart does indeed have something to contribute to Knoxville’s future—that it is a worthwhile place to live, work and play. It’s a long way from dogma, yet the idea does seem to be catching on, judging from downtown’s recent, uh, genesis. But we’ve got way more than seven days to go before we can take a breather, because looking around most of the inner city I see plenty of charity and plenty of well-meaning mission work. There’s precious little faith of the sort I’m talking about, and hope is in short supply too.

While “teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him a for a lifetime” is a popular saying among folks—both secular and sanctified—who “minister” to the center-city, it’s also true that if you teach a man that his neighborhood is fit only to provide cheap housing for the poor, he’ll move away as soon as he can afford to.

Still, when it comes to tackling the problems of our inner-city neighborhoods, it seems the number one commandment has always been “thou shalt build affordable housing,” even though piling the poor into low-income neighborhoods often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The few remaining middle-income folks, whether white or black, eventually flee. The neighborhood gets poorer. And, while the housing does get more affordable, it gets harder and harder to find someone who wants to live in it.

The abandonment spirals outward from there. Without middle-income shoppers, retail activity dies (with an attendant loss of jobs). Without middle-income parents, the schools suffer. And as families flee from the neighborhood school’s falling test scores, even the churches are abandoned.

I mean churches like this one on Linden Avenue. Originally Park City Presbyterian, built in 1891, it’s one of the oldest sanctuaries in the city. Park City—as much of East Knoxville was once known—was a thriving place back in that day. There were mansions along Magnolia and bungalows and colonials along Linden and Parkview. That prosperity is reflected in the church’s rich woodwork and fabulous stained glass that is miraculously preserved.

I wish I could say the same for Park City. The last few decades have been pretty hard on the old neighborhood, particularly in what’s now better known as Five Points. The old commercial center there is largely derelict. And the old Park-Lowry school, once among the city’s grandest, was demolished to make way for, you guessed it, affordable housing. Sadly, the church property has contributed to the decline. The old parsonage, once a charming brick and cedar-shake structure, is currently condemned (but appears relatively sound, other than a porch that was removed due to structural concerns).

Luckily, hope seems to be returning. The city’s preparing to invest several million dollars to build new retail in the heart of Five Points just around the corner. Whether that means the neighborhood is headed for a revival, it’s too soon to tell.

But I pray that it is.