The East Tennessee Community Design Center operates under the radar of most people in the sixteen counties they serve. The hundreds of people who have been involved in the projects they’ve helped get started know how critical their service can be. And then there are most of us. Tens of thousands of people who enjoy or benefit from their work every day, yet don’t realize they played a part.
The organization began in 1970 by Bruce McCarty, then president of the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Their objective is “to make East Tennessee a better place by bringing design and planning assistance to communities and organizations lacking resources to acquire those services.” They do so by offering volunteer design and architectural guidance across the region through volunteer efforts of professional architects, designers, and other professionals. Their work makes many projects better while making many others possible from the beginning.
I spoke to Executive Director Duane Grieve to learn more about recent projects, including the Union County Heritage Park which will be honored with the Annette Anderson Director’s Award at their celebration October 16. The award recognizes clients of the ETCDC who have “demonstrated a commitment to making East Tennessee a better place.” It is named after Ms. Anderson who led the ETCDC for over twenty years.
Duane said that one of his focuses when he became director in 2018 was to document the impact the organization has had across the region. As they began that process, they found documentation for over 1300 projects over the 50+ years of their existence. Many of those design concepts led to completed projects in the region. He began to research how many volunteers had given their time “to help non-profits with their vision.” The group documented over 120,000 volunteer hours that went into those projects.
Since his arrival, the ETCDC has added another focus beyond single projects. Their Community Collaboratives designate a particular area of town, sometimes very small and the group spends two years determining the possibilities of that area if good design is employed. The hope is that the city, county, owners, and developers are inspired to make the vision a reality.
The first Collaborative area focused on the Burlington area in east Knoxville. After gathering a large amount of community input and gave that information to an architecture class at UT. “We allow them to dream, but then architects look at what is possible given codes and other realities. Southerland Avenue was the second focus area, followed by Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue. Their current focus is a section of North Broadway. He said they’ve seen the city take action as a result of their highlighting areas with potential.
Funding for the ETCDC comes from grants, particularly from the City of Knoxville and Knox County, as well as the Tennessee Arts Commission. They also get support from the Lawson Family Foundation, the Clayton Foundation, the East Tennessee Foundation and others. They also get funding through memberships which brings in over ten percent of their budget. Finally, and very importantly, they raise money through the sponsorships and ticket sales from their annual event. Clients also pay according to their means, bringing in small pockets of money. Duane said they feel it is important for them to have “money in the game.” He said it is important to show they are genuinely committed to the idea.
He said they stay busy with requests from organizations as word of mouth has spread of the help they can provide. The struggle is more filling all the requests with volunteers. When the economy is doing well, as it is now, architects and others are very busy, which allows them less time for volunteering. Organizations have to demonstrate that they are non-profits, that they are helping their community, and that they are unable to fund the architectural services, while also demonstrating their resolve to complete the project. He gave an example of a group that recently let them know their project (a community center) was completed — fifteen years after the design center had helped them.
Heritage Park, which will be honored at the upcoming celebration Grieves says “is one of the most exciting projects we’ve had.” Representatives of the park in Union County came to the design center wanting to do something to honor the musicians who have come out of the county, including Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, and Kenny Chesney. As the project proceeded, a stage was added, as was a market, and more features to recognize other aspects of Union County life. With the plans developed in conjunction with the ETCDC, the group was able to approach state officials where they obtained a million dollar grant to complete the project.
The ETCDC is one of a very small number of organized groups encouraging the use of good design generally and good urban design where it is appropriate in our city. For all the concern about how Knoxville might develop going forward, this is one group trying to steer the ship in a good direction. If you’d like to be a part of this group, you can join here to support them. Alternatively, join their upcoming celebration October 16 at the historic Ramsey House and enjoy bluegrass, heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and a silent auction while honoring Jerry Askew, winner of this year’s Bruce McCarty Community Impact Award, along with Heritage Park. You can get tickets for that here.