VOL. 9 NO. 29
McClung Museum
IN THIS ISSUE Bonny Naugher’s excellent hobby
July 22, 2015
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− no longer a secret
Bonny Naugher could earn her required Master Gardener volunteer hours by pulling weeds. Instead, she elects to read to children at the UT Gardens.
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Read Wendy Smith on page A-3
Interns visit Kern’s The old Kern’s Bakery is a mess. Erected in 1931, it is 90,000 square feet on 14 acres. Where most developers might see a great spot for a new Walmart, David Dewhirst sees exposed brick, oak floorboards, and another chance to make Knoxville unique.
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During the 25 years since Jeff Chapman was hired as director, the McClung Museum has flourished. Engagement efforts, like the installation of Monty the Edmontosaurus, draw the community, as well as students, to the museum. Photo by Wendy Smith
The interns report on page A-8
Rethinking George Wallace Betty Bean writes: “George Wallace is beginning to be mentioned among the possible contenders to succeed Mayor Madeline Rogero when she leaves office in four years. He has clearly developed the art of dodging questions about his aspirations.”
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Sandra Clark writes: “Let’s lose the evaluation rubric, the strategic compensation matrix and the committee that’s reformatting incentive pay. APEX is gone, and it’s not coming back.” Read Clark’s column on page A-5
Whetsel set to retire from city Bob Whetsel was a Bearden guy before e moved to Fourth & Gill. He will soon retire as the city’s redevelopment director, and he doesn’t mind stepping down before current projects are completed. Before one wraps up, another starts, he explains.
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That number is the result of 25 years of work since Chapman took the reins, and it will allow him to step down within the next couple of years, knowing that the museum is healthy. He came to UT in 1975 as a research assistant professor. He did archaeology fieldwork in the Tellico area, and the project was run out of McClung. There were no educational programs at the museum, which was created in 1963 to house archaeological materials and the diverse collections that had come to the university over
the years. His transition to director in 1990 was easy, he says. He’d been interested in the museum business for a long time and had several ideas he wanted to implement. The first was to hire a full-time educator − Debbie Woodiel, who is still in the position. “The fundamental business of museums is education,” he says. Woodiel’s hiring resulted in the museum’s first docent-led tours and an influx of school-age visitors. His second major effort was
fundraising. While the university covered the museum’s overhead, there was little funding above salaries. So Chapman began a membership program that continues to grow today. The fiscal health of the museum is now supplemented by 13 endowments. In addition to being an important source of income, the endowments show that the community knows, and appreciates, what the museum does, he says. Three years ago, new engageTo page A-3
Read Bean’s column on page A-5
Teacher incentive pay out for FY16
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By Wendy Smith When people describe McClung Museum of Natural History & Culture as “a hidden gem” or “Knoxville’s best-kept secret,” they’re trying to pay a compliment. But McClung director Jeff Chapman is tired of hearing it. He wants everyone − from students to faculty to the community at large − to be familiar with the museum, 1327 Circle Park Drive on the University of Tennessee campus. It’s finally happening. Last year, McClung had its largest number of visitors to date − over 47,000.
Read Wendy Smith on page A-4
10512 Lexington Dr., Ste. 500 37932 (865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sherri Gardner Howell Wendy Smith | Anne Hart ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Patty Fecco | Tony Cranmore Alice Devall | Beverly Holland
City turns attention to Clinch Avenue City crews hope to reopen the Clinch Avenue Viaduct spanning World’s Fair Park on Monday, July 27. It was closed as part of a $2.7 million infrastructure upgrade that will enhance the route for pedestrian and bicycle traffic from the University of Tennessee area to downtown. The project includes a new pedestrian walkway and canopy that will connect the Knoxville
Convention Center with the Holiday Inn Downtown and new Tennessean residential development. Cranes will be setting in place 70foot and 40-foot sections of the canopy. The work will continue through August, but the bridge will reopen to traffic. Infrastructure upgrades also include a rejuvenation of the Henley Street pedestrian bridge at Clinch Avenue – covering it with
a frosted-glass roof, replacing the metal cage fencing with perforated metal panels and adding decorative lighting. Streetscape amenities will be put in on the Clinch Avenue bridge. Three traffic lanes will be reduced to two 10-foot-wide lanes, and 5-foot-wide bicycle lanes will be created on both sides. The sidewalks on the viaduct will be widened, and planter boxes with
landscaping and benches will be installed to make it a better pedestrian and bicycle connector between Fort Sanders, World’s Fair Park and downtown. Most of the work will be finished by the end of August. The lighting on the Henley Street pedestrian bridge and upgrades to the elevator tower are slated to be completed about a month later.
Anne Woodle: lousy politician, splendid human By Betty Bean Not to say that those who run for office can’t be also good people, but the qualities that made Anne Woodle a crappy politician were the very things that made her a fine human – unswerving fealty to what she believed to be right and an unfettered refusal to compromise her principles, even when she knew that the stands she was taking were incompatible with longevity in office. Like the time she served on the election commission and refused to vote to hire the candidate for administrator favored by Knox County’s most powerful local Democrat (that would be Joe Armstrong) because she believed another candidate was more qualified. Woodle’s candidate won, but she lost her seat come reappointment time. And she probably never lost a night’s sleep over it. Same deal with her single term on the school board. Knox County Schools had run into trouble with the federal government because students who attended
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the inequity couldn’t continue. The resulting parental responsibility zones meant no more bus service for families living close to schools, and that city kids living some distance away would ride instead of walk. Woodle voted for the changes and became a one-termer. That one hurt, but probably more for the vicious racist attacks on her teenaged son, Jason, who is bi-racial, than for anything that happened to her. Woodle, whose sudden death last week from a catastrophic stroke has left her friends (and there are lots of them) stunned and reeling, was a single parent and loved her son fiercely. Anne Woodle. Photo provided by North Hills Garden Club And the true fact that can be backed up in court (as Cas Walker used to say) was that schools outside the city limits enjoyed bus ser- Woodle pretty much loved all children. As divice while those who attended schools inside rector of the East Tennessee Children’s Rehathe city limits had to fend for themselves. Since bilitation Center for more than 30 years, it was the county couldn’t afford to pay for bus ser- her job to care for children in fragile health. During her off hours, she’d turn down dates vice for all, it had to take drastic measures. The political fallout was severe, even though anybody with two grams of gray matter knew To page A-3
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