Community input and the importance of process have been hot topics this week. One nonprofit that helps facilitate collaboration—and has come up with a pretty neat system for doing so—is the East Tennessee Community Design Center (ETCDC). Its latest “Community Collaborative” brought neighbors, architects and planners together Wednesday evening at The Brookside in Happy Holler to collectively imagine the future of two properties: Knox Central (1000 N. Central St.) and Knox County Schools Maintenance & Operations (900 E. Fifth Ave.). Input gathered from the session will inform both student and professional designs and concepts for the properties to be presented next year.
Both buildings carry some history, though in different flavors.
Knox Central—forever the “old Sears building”—was constructed in 1948 as Knoxville’s first large-scale Sears department store. With marble floors, escalators, multiple levels and the city’s largest free parking lot, it ushered in a new retail era: suburban-style shopping and convenience, complete with a shuttle to Gay Street. The store closed in 1984. Today it belongs to Knox County and houses Records Management, Purchasing and Veterans Services.
Over off Hall of Fame Drive, the Knox County Schools Maintenance & Operations site got its start in 1929 as a Chevrolet parts distribution center. Over the decades it cycled through tenants—pharma, electronics, appliances—before settling into its role as a municipal maintenance hub in the 1960s. Today it is the back-office muscle for KCS, keeping all 91 schools patched up and running.
Both properties sit in fast-evolving districts, and their current roles don’t reflect their potential. They’ve done their public service, so to speak. What could be next?
Chris Caldwell, Knox County’s chief finance officer, confirmed that a new consolidated maintenance facility is planned for the former recycling center site on Hancock Street, purchased earlier this year for $4.35 million. That move, if everything fits in how they hope, would free both sites to be put back on the tax rolls.
Kristin Lee Grove, ETCDC immediate past board president, said the timing is right: “These are two county sites within the city, and they’re both ripe for development. It’s the time to really talk about it and figure out what the surrounding area wants to see happen.”
The public input session had a simple but surprisingly fun format: attendees were handed color-coded dot stickers tied to their zip codes and told to vote on boards full of questions about each site’s future. Want housing? A park? Retail? Put your dots where your dreams are. Consensus emerged in real time; one that stood out was a strong desire for mixed-use development.
As for the buildings themselves, most session attendees agreed on the handsomeness of the KCS building but were of mixed opinion about Knox Central. Some attendees openly swapped bulldozer fantasies while others swore affection for its yellow brick and quirky glass cubes. Team Demolition vs. Team Preservation: y’all can duke it out in the comments.
Next up, UT School of Architecture students will put their spin on the sites this fall. They provided some single-stair housing design models for the public input session which was a really fun touch (I couldn’t stop taking photos of the tiny people inside).
That will followed by a spring design charrette with local architects. Those concepts, combined with research and community input, will be compiled into a polished publication to help guide county decisions.
Duane Grieve, ETCDC executive director, said the process thrives on both imagination and reality checks. “The students get to dream, and then the architects come in with zoning, codes and realistic considerations,” he says. “It’s exciting because neighbors can see their input reflected in real possibilities.”
Past Collaboratives have taken on the Burlington Streetscape, Sutherland Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, and the North Broadway Corridor. Of those, Burlington (2019) has had the most tangible impact, with city investment in sidewalks, streetscapes and a new fire station looking to revitalize the area in coming months and years. View previous years’ Collaborative publications here.
The Collaborative’s goals:
- Envision spaces that enhance community life
- Encourage multi-use development
- Incorporate green space and connectivity
- Promote sustainable growth
These two Knox County sites won’t transform overnight, but the groundwork is being laid. When change does come, the hope is it will reflect not just market forces or government needs, but the community’s own imagination.
Learn more about ETCDC, which is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, at the website here.
Disclosure: Leslie is on the ETCDC board of directors.