Comment on this story Knox Heritage Old House Fair 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat., Oct. 30 The Jacob Building at Chilhowee Park Fair Tickets: $2, Knox Heritage members free Barber Trolley Tours: $12, $10 members Call 523-8008 or visit Knox Heritage for information.

by Matt Edens

A visitor’s center says a lot about the city it’s in. Which is one reason why I don’t particularly miss the Gateway Regional Visitor’s Center. I doubt you miss it either: assuming, that is, that you were one of the handful of folks who knew it ever existed. Most of Knoxville didn’t. And the feeling was, well, mutual.

Devoted to regional attractions ranging from the Great Smokies to the Museum of Science and Energy, the center seemed loathe to mention the city it was actually in. The implied message—“nothing to see here”—added extra bite to the satiric take on what was then the current Chamber of Commerce tagline: “Knoxville, where Nature and Technology Stop for Gas.”

A trip to the new Knoxville Visitor’s Center, downtown at the corner of Summit Hill and Gay Street, gives a vastly different impression. Not only will the visitor walk away with the notion that there’s more to Knoxville than the chance to fill one’s tank and tummy before heading to Pigeon Forge, thanks to WDVX’s return of live radio shows to Gay Street, they might actually run into some actual Knoxvillians (which says something itself—other than employees, how often do you run into locals at a visitor’s center?).

Remarkably, almost without notice, the thinking has shifted from the idea that getting tourists to Knoxville requires distraction in the form of goofball attractions, to the notion that people might just maybe find Knoxville intriguing and interesting in its own right.

In that regard, Knox Heritage’s Old House Fair Oct. 30 at the Jacob Building at Chilhowee Park is simply building on the trend. Ballsy, I admit, hosting a day-long series of seminars on historic preservation in a town where, it seems like just yesterday, we were determined to knock down every old building we hadn’t yet gotten around to knocking down. But the times, as they say, are a-changing.

The downtown residential and center-city real estate markets haven’t been stronger in recent memory. And the fair, with workshops on historic zoning, researching a home’s history, restoration financing, and historic architectural styles offers an excellent primer to anyone wanting to plunge into city living. Booths from more than 30 vendors and organizations will also be available on everything from neighborhood groups and realtors, lenders and architects to antique dealers and experts on everything from lead abatement to termites. There’s also a free lunch-time lecture on Knoxville Victorian-era architect George Barber and a special exhibit of 125 illustrated panels depicting different Barber designs and houses still standing across the country.

And, for an extra $10, you can take a guided trolley tour through Parkridge, Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville for a look at more than 30 of the roughly 50 Barber-designed homes in Knoxville, and a chance to peek inside three of them.

So I guess there’s something to see here after all.

October 21, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 43 © 2004 Metro Pulse