Each year, Knox Heritage presents awards to the very best preservation projects in east Tennessee. Many of those projects are in or near downtown Knoxville, and this year was no exception. Also, many of the awards went to projects I’ve profiled on this website. This particular year, Sanders Pace Architecture dominated the night with projects from South Knoxville to North Knoxville. Here’s a look at the projects in the downtown area or nearby.
The City of Knoxville presents the Mayor’s Award each year and this year the award went to “Dover Signature Properties and BarberMcMurry Architects for restoration of the historic South High School at 835 Tipton Avenue.” Now brought back to life as South High Senior Living., the roof had literally caved in and the building was very nearly lost. I profiled the project last July.
The Knoxville History Project took home the Media Award for their book Historic Bearden: The 200-year Story of Knoxville’s Fourth Creek Valley. Jack Neely Wrote the book, Paul James edited and sourced the images and Robin Easter Design (who are responsible for development of this website) provided design services.
Awards were given to two projects in east Knoxville, which I have not covered: “Reagan Design + Construction and Dgray & Hbogus, LLC for the renovation of 2545 Jefferson Avenue in the Parkridge neighborhood, and to Arin Streeter for writing the National Register nomination for the Charles L. Lawhon House in the Morningside neighborhood.”
Closer to home, the City of Knoxville was recognized for the Jackson Avenue Ramps project, which I covered here. Axle Logistics and Design Innovation Architects were recognized for their renovation of the former Hull and Dobbs building located at 835 N. Central Street. This project proceeded mostly during the pandemic, and I first gave details in September 2019. Construction got underway with the ribbon cutting in February 2020.
Jim and Lori Klonaris, SK Ballard Contract Interiors, and Johnson Architecture, Inc were given an award in recognition of their “renovation and adapted reuse of two floors in the Holston Building into the high-end restaurant and retro cocktail bar, Vida and The Vault.” I covered both the Vida opening and the opening of the Vault in January of this year.
The rest of the night went to Sanders Pace Architecture and associates. Several projects have not been covered here, including the Parkridge renovation of 1520 Washington Avenue, a joint project of Sanders Pace and Parkridge Group, LLC. Two of their projects in Emory Place were recognized, including 517 and 519 North Central, a project they did with Segal Drummond, and the renovation of 509 North Central. John Sanders was recognized for his restoration of the Clauss House II located in the Little Switzerland neighborhood in south Knoxville.
Several of the firm’s projects have been covered here. Most recently, I wrote about the national recognition they received for their restoration and construction work at Loghaven. They shared a Knox Heritage award for this project with the Aslan Foundation. The two also won an award for their work on the Candoro Marble Building, a project which I plan to cover tomorrow. Springing from South Knoxville to North Knoxville, they won an award for their work on Elst Brewing Company, for “renovating and adapting two dilapidated 80 year old buildings into a new craft brewery and community gathering space within the Oakwood-Lincoln Park neighborhood.” I covered that project in October 2018.
The awards were held, as you can see by my screen grabs above, online. Here’s hoping we can all celebrate together next year as we recognize the people making our city sparkle one building at a time. If you aren’t familiar with Knox Heritage, please learn more about them and become a member, if you can.