VOL. 10 NO. 39
BUZZ
www.ShopperNewsNow.com |
September 28, 2016
www.facebook.com/ShopperNewsNow
Hire Brian Pittman and save the Eugenia Williams house By Betty Bean
Great Llama Race The Great Llama Race is coming to World’s Fair Park 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. It’s a benefit for Casa de Sara, an international organization based in Knoxville which provides opportunities for at-risk kids. The race is a foot-race in which local celebrities are paired with a Knox County school and a llama provided by Southeast Llama Rescue. The race will be run in heats, with the final heat determining first, second and third place winners. There will also be a parade of llamas (great photo ops) and llamas handy to touch in the petting area. The winning schools will receive a percentage of funds raised for a project of their choice. Southeast Llama Rescue also will receive a percentage of funds raised, with the remainder going to Casa de Sara. Admission is $5 with kids five and younger admitted free. Only service dogs are allowed. The World’s Fair Park has hosted 5,000 people for previous races with food vendors, entertainers, music and more on site. This year a 5K race has been added for human runners of all ages. It will start and end at World’s Fair Park. Organizers suggest a llama or two might be along the course. Race information is available in the website at thegreatllamarace. com
Don’t ask the wrong question Lauren Hopson says we’re asking the wrong question – what sort of school superintendent do we want? “We need to decide what kind of school system we want, and the board will find the person who can lead us there.�
➤
Read Lauren Hopson on page A-4
(865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS (865) 661-8777 news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Wendy Smith ADVERTISING SALES (865) 342-6084 ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Amy Lutheran | Patty Fecco Beverly Holland | Tess Woodhull CIRCULATION (865) 342-6200 shoppercirc@ShopperNewsNow.com
Time is not on the side of abandoned buildings, so the University of Tennessee needs to stop dithering over the Eugenia Williams house and hire architect Brian Scott Pittman to figure out what to do with it. Pittman (also known as The Cathedral Guy for his intricate penand-ink drawings of imaginary cathedrals) has known what he wanted to do with his life since he was 5 years old and spelled architect with a K. He fell in love with the Eugenia Williams house when he was 10 and has been collecting information about it since he was 20. Nobody alive knows more about the mansion at 4848 Lyons View Pike. Pittman lived on the other side of town in Island Home, but he’d ride his bicycle all the way out to West Knoxville to look at the house that Williams – the sole heir to a massive Coca-Cola fortune – commissioned architect John Fanz Staub to build in 1940. Too polite to trespass, he’d stand in the opening in the high brick wall shielding the 24-acre estate from public view and study the Regency-style house at the end of the long driveway. He believes to this day that he saw Eugenia Williams looking back at him from an upstairs window. Then he’d go home and build the house out of Legos.
He’d always wondered how she knew he was there, and this year, while researching the house’s history, he discovered that Williams had installed the first gate sensor in Knoxville and was alerted whenever anyone approached. Williams, who died in 1998, left her home and property to the university, to be used as the president’s house. The board of trustees quit providing housing for its presidents not long afterward, and the trustees have been flummoxed for years over what to do with the most valuable chunk of vacant residential real estate in Knoxville. That’s where Pittman can help. UT’s beautiful white elephant wasn’t the only old house Pittman fell in love with when he was 10. His family moved here from Texas, and he’d never seen anything like the four-story brick house at the north end of the Henley Bridge. He told his mother he was going to live there someday. She smiled and said, “Sure you are, honey.� Then he went home and built the house out of Legos. Today, Pittman’s mother lives on the second floor of the historic Mary Booth Temple house. Pittman, who recently took a position at Johnson Architecture Inc. after a long career at McCarty Holsaple McCarty Inc., lives on the first floor. It took seven years of hard work and
Brian Scott Pittman on the porch of the Mary Booth Temple house.
innovative financing, but the meticulously restored red brick house on the corner of Henley Street and Hill Avenue has been transformed into an iconic landmark. Knox Heritage executive director Kim Trent, whose organization
has placed the Williams house on its “Fragile 15� list of endangered historic structures, would applaud a decision to involve Pittman in the restoration project. To page A-3
Lakeshore renovation yields memories, vision for future By Wendy Smith Last week’s ribbon-cutting for the newlyrenovated administration building at Lakeshore Park was both a celebration of the beautiful site and a reunion for many who worked at Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital, which later became Lakeshore Mental Health Institute. Pictures of the hospital’s early days were on display during a reception following the ribbon-cutting. They showed large wings on either side of the administration building and other long-gone structures, like a separate building for African-American patients.
During the 1960s, the hospital reached peak capacity of 2,800 patients. Several former employees explored the renovated administration building together. Pauline Eastham, a staff psychologist who later became assistant superintendent of the facility, came to work there 50 years ago. She visited her former office on the building’s second floor. A beautiful fireplace and the view of the river haven’t changed, she said. They shared memories of working on the campus. Treatment philosophies and practices changed through the years, and Tom
Biggs recalled occasionally being the sole male to work at night in the women’s dorm. That would never happen today, he said. He later became principal of Riverbend School, the facility that housed young patients. Monika Miller of Elizabeth Eason Architecture, the architectural firm for the project, discussed the condition of the administration building before renovation began. Dropped ceilings and extra walls created a dark, dreary interior. To page A-3
Small investments over long haul help cities build wealth By Wendy Smith Chuck Marohn, founder and president of Strong Towns, hails from Minnesota. But he used a Tennessee landmark − the Pyramid in Memphis − as an example of “dumb� development that threatens the financial health of cities. The mission of Strong Towns is to support a model of development that allows America’s cities, towns and neighborhoods to become financially strong and resilient. Marohn was keynote speaker at last week’s fall conference of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Tennessee Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. When it comes to development, innovation from the top down tends to be orderly but dumb, he said. The $200 million Pyramid, built as a stadium for the Memphis Grizzlies, was heavily subsidized with state and federal funds. The team eventually pulled out because it didn’t like the stadium. It’s now a Bass Pro Shop. Innovation from the bottom up tends to be smart, but chaotic. He used citizen-driven improvements on Broad Avenue in Memphis as an example of this type of development. Neighbors revitalized the run-down area by painting bike lanes and adding planters themselves. It’s
now fully occupied and has appreciated by $12 million. Cities were built the same way for thousands of years when feet were the primary mode of transportation, he said. Knowledge was gained through trial and error, and was passed down. That changed when automobiles were introduced. In one generation, the model completely Marohn changed without being tested. “We’re living through one of humanity’s greatest experiments.� Since then, local governments have come to rely on money transferred from state and federal governments, transportation spending and debt to fund growth. When cities grow this way, up-front costs are small, so citizens feel rich. The catch is that cities become responsible for long-term maintenance. This shortterm advantage, followed by long-term obligation, is like a Ponzi scheme, Marohn said. This pattern of development requires large tax increases or significant cuts in services for cities to avoid default. There’s no easy solution, but there are rational responses, he said.
Cities need to shed the “build it and they will come� mentality. Instead, growth should be “up and out.� Cities should build wealth by small investments in a broad area over a long period of time. He gave an example from his hometown. He compared the growth of two 19-acre parcels in Brainerd, Minn. − one with an oversized bigbox store in a suburban area, and the other a struggling section of downtown. Even though the big-box is considered a regional draw, the property is worth $.6 million per acre, while the downtown area, a local draw, is worth $1.1 million per acre. The city spent a fortune on infrastructure for the suburban development while the downtown infrastructure was a gift from previous generations. Because big boxes eventually fail, the suburban development is fragile. The downtown area, on the other hand, is adaptable. If one business fails, it doesn’t matter. Marohn recommends making smaller investments in things that people really care about. “We need to humble ourselves to address how people are struggling. That leads to good investment and makes people’s lives better.�
For all your vehicle needs, sales & service. Thanks! - Ray
CLINTON TENNESSEE 865-457-0704 or 1-800-579-4561 www.rayvarnerford.com
$ ! " ! " & % # &