PRESERVATION 2012 a Report to Mayor Madeline Rogero

PRESERVATION 2012 A Report to Mayor Madeline Rogero

Prepared by the Knoxville-Knox Metropolitan Planning Commission March 2013

2012 Historic Zoning Commissioners Scott Busby, AIA, Chair Sandra Martin, Vice Chair Sean Bolen Faris Eid, AIA Lorie Matthews Melissa McAdams Andie Ray Melynda Whetsel Jason Woodle

Prepared by Historic Zoning Commission staff Kaye Graybeal, AICP

Submitted to: Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission April 11, 2013

Knoxville-Knox County Historic Zoning Commission April 18, 2013

Knoxville City Council April 30, 2013

Table of Contents

Historic Zoning District Overlay Background 1

Historic Zoning Commission Design Review 1

Notable Historic Zoning Overlay Projects 2

National Register of Historic Places Nominations 7

Historic School Buildings 9

Downtown Design (D-1) Overlay District 13

Historic Sign Designation 15

APA Great Streets Designation 16

Recommendations for Action 17

State of Historic Preservation in the City of Knoxville 2012

The City’s Charter, as amended in 2002, requires that an annual report on the state of historic preservation within the City of Knoxville be reviewed by the Metropolitan Planning Commission and presented to the City Mayor. The Mayor, in turn, is to present the report to the Knoxville City Council.

Historic Zoning District Overlay Background

In 1991, residents of Mechanicsville joined forces to create the city’s first residential H-1 historic district overlay. Old North Knoxville followed suit in 1992, and in late 2003 the neighborhood worked with the Historic Zoning Commission to develop their own set of design guidelines. Those districts were followed shortly thereafter with H-1 overlay zoning for the 4th & Gill and Edgewood-Park City neighborhoods, and the Market Square Historic District. Another form of overlay zoning, designed to protect historic buildings from demolition and assure that new construction is compatible with existing character, is called Neighborhood Conservation Overlay (NC-1) zoning which designates the Tazewell Pike, Scenic Drive, Fort Sanders, Fairmont Park, and Gobbler’s Knob/Sherrod Road districts. Individual historic properties are also afforded protection under the historic zoning overlay.

Historic Zoning Commission Design Review

The Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission and MPC staff reviewed 120 requests for Certificates of Appropriateness over the calendar year 2012, a slight increase over the previous year’s 115. The 4th and Gill and Old North Knoxville districts led the way with 44 and 42 reviews respectively. Edgewood-Park City turned in 11 applications.

District COAs Reviewed

Fourth and Gill H-1 44 (1 denial)

Old North Knoxville H-1 42

Park City-Edgewood H-1 11 (1 denial)

Market Square H-1 7

Old Mechanicsville H-1 5 (1 denial)

Individual properties H-1 4

Ft. Sanders NC H-1 4

Fairmont Park NC-1 2

Tazewell Pike NC-1 1

Notable Historic Overlay (H-1) Projects

Walker-Sherrill House purchase 9320 Kingston Pike In an effort to preserve and adaptively reuse the antebellum (c. 1849) Walker Sherrill House, all parties recently agreed that the lot on which the house site and H-1 Overlay boundaries could be reduced so that the property became more affordable for someone willing to restore the house. The preservation proposal by new owner Bill Hodges focuses on preserving the most important components of the house while adaptively reusing it as leased office space.

Vintage photo of the c. 1849 Walker-Sherrill House

Knox Heritage and MPC Historic Zoning staff visit the Sherrill House

Westwood (John and Adelia Armstrong Lutz House) 3425 Kingston Pike Knox Heritage received a $250,000 gift from the Aslan Foundation in September 2012 toward capital it must raise to reach its goal of establishing a regional center for historic preservation at Westwood. Knox Heritage plans to apply for historic overlay zoning (H-1) for the house. Known for its serpentine brick wall along Kingston Pike, Westwood is one of three houses built by three generations of the Armstrong family.

Knox Heritage must raise $750,000 before taking possession of the house and announced a larger $3 million capital campaign in September. The first $1 million would go toward the restoring and maintaining the mansion. The second million would go to Knox Heritage's endangered property fund, helping the group to purchase threatened historic buildings and sell them to preservation-sensitive buyers. The remaining funds would serve as an endowment to help assure the long-term stability of Knox Heritage.

Earlier in 2012, the Aslan Foundation bought Westwood and surrounding property from the estate of the Lutz’s granddaughter. The foundation, operated by the family of the late attorney and philanthropist Lindsay Young, also will pay for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based preservation architect Joseph Opperman to restore Westwood.

The Aslan Foundation will apply to MPC for a “use-on-review” to allow the house and property to be used as a museum managed by Knox Heritage. Knox Heritage has also requested to locate its offices there, with the restoration anticipated for completion in April 2014.

Homemaker’s Program 611 Gill Avenue This property in the Fourth and Gill Neighborhood was condemned and owned by the City as a part of the Homemakers’ Program. The bid for purchasing the house was awarded to Jonathan and Cheryl Ball / Bentley and Jessica Brackett of Oak Valley Construction and their proposal for renovation was approved. The group has restored the formerly multi-unit house to single-family home. Its location at the gateway of the historic district makes its renovation of particular importance to the community.

A dilapidated 611 Gill in 2010

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A restored exterior / renovated interior make this house very marketable

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Old County Courthouse windows A contract was awarded to Architectural Specialties, Inc. by the Public Building Authority in September 2012 to repair the courthouse historic windows. The decision was made to install storm windows to lend an energy efficiency that will exceed that of new windows. The work will begin in Spring 2013.

County Courthouse –east façade

1 Market Square / 407 Union Avenue Renovation of the historic facades of the Oliver Hotel on both Union Street and Market Square included new storefront installation to more closely resemble the historic. A Central Business Improvement District (CBID) façade grant of $125,000 bolstered an additional $650,000 of investment by two restaurants. The corner prominent and popular restaurant opened in October of 2012.

New cafe at 1 Market Square

Slate Roof Replacement on Historic Overlay Properties

Slate roofs on many homes in Knoxville were damaged irreparably by major hailstorms that plagued the area in 2011. Replacement of these roofs with natural slate in some cases has not been feasible, especially when the costs of slate roof repair approach the value of the house itself, causing insurance companies to deny coverage for slate replacement.

“The relatively large percentage of historic buildings roofed with slate during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries means that many slate roofs, and the 60 to 125 year life span of the slates most commonly used, may be nearing the end of their serviceable lives at the end of the twentieth century” (National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 1992).

In the examples below, both 505 E. Scott Avenue in Old North Knox H-1 and Crescent Bend were able to obtain insurance coverage for slate roof replacement. However, insurance did not cover the damage and wear on two houses located on Jefferson Avenue in the Edgewood-Park City H-1; therefore, the Historic Zoning Commission approved two different types of metal shingles as an alternative.

Crescent Bend Kingston Pike 1912 Washington Avenue

505 E. Scott Avenue 1724 Washnigton Avenue

Potential National Register Nominations

Westmoreland Water Wheel & related properties Sherwood Drive At the request of the Westmoreland Heights Community Association, Knox Heritage staff is preparing a National Register nomination for the Westmoreland Water Wheel and three later associated residential properties. A fieldstone structure was built c. 1923 that contained devices for pumping and supplying water to the neighborhood. The wheel house and motif were designed by prominent designer Charles F. Barber. The properties include Glencraig and Craiglen, both Craig-family homes, as well as the water wheel, wheelhouse, and gate post.

Waterwheel housing structure and gateway structure c. 1925

One of the original houses served by the wheel pumping system

Happy Holler Commercial District along N. Central Street

Happy Holler Commercial District along E. Anderson Avenue

Happy Holler Commercial District N. Central Street A final draft National Register nomination for this proposed district was submitted in 2012 to address comments by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The nomination will be shared with local property owners and other stakeholders prior to official designation by the National Park Service. The commercial neighborhood is exemplary as a community- oriented shopping significant for its depiction of the history of Knoxville’s streetcar suburbs during the early 20th-century (1900-1940).

During recent decades, community-oriented uses have been increasingly flourishing in Happy Holler and several buildings have been restored. Improvements to storefronts, with several of the designs by the Community Design Center, have been made with Façade Improvement Grants. These grants are enabled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Empowerment Zone Program.

Historic School Buildings

Below is a summary of the status of three school buildings within the city limits that are slated for future adaptive reuse The plight of these public properties has heightened the awareness of stakeholders on the importance of stewardship of historic school buildings that were once assets within vibrant neighborhoods. Left to blight, these dilapidated buildings negatively impact property values and discourage private investment.

Oakwood Elementary School 232 E. Churchwell Avenue The school was built in three phases in 1914, the 1950s and the 1960s and closed 16 years ago. It received a one-month reprieve from the wrecking ball in January 2012 and the county finally received a viable proposal on the second try. A deal was finalized with an experienced local developer, Family Pride Corporation, in August 2012. The developer is renovating the building for adaptive reuse as an assisted living facility. With the initial help of the Community Design Center in providing as-builts and other legwork for the project, work is well underway.

In order to fund stabilization of the existing facility, the developer is utilized a payment in lieu of taxes or “PILOT” from the Industrial Development Board of Knox County to supplement private funds. This effort will ultimately result in a more than $5 million- investment in the property. This investment for the adaptive re-use of the building will benefit the immediate neighborhood as well as the overall city given that the rehabilitation would eliminate blight and add new property to the tax roles.

Oakwood Elementary School, adaptively reused as assisted living facility

South High School (H-1 Overlay) 801 Tipton Avenue During the latter part of 2012, the City utilized funding designated to implement the demolition-by-neglect ordinance to stabilize the 1936 South High School designed by Charles Barber. The ordinance allows the City to do preventive maintenance to stall further decline of structures until the owner will take over the responsibility or sell the property. For South High School, the City spent approximately $32,000 to make needed roof repairs; board-up windows; add structural bracing to the roof and walls; erect security fencing, and to obtain a structural engineering report. The city will invoice the owner for the work and if the bill is not paid, a lien will be placed on the property. Failure by the owner to pay off the lien could lead to further action by the City. The demolition-by-neglect ordinance was adopted 10 years ago to help protect Historic Overlay (H-1) properties, but was never funded until last year, so this is the first property for which this tool has been implemented. Mayor Rogero initiated the funding of $100,000 to implement the code to stabilize deteriorated properties as part of an overall policy priority to address blight throughout the City.

South High School

Rule High School 1901 Vermont Avenue The building is largely vacant and also desperately in need of reinvestment. Rule High School was built in 1926-1927 and opened in the fall of 1927. Rule High School was named after Captain William Rule, a former Union Army Captain who went on to become the mayor of Knoxville, as well as publisher and editor of the Knoxville Journal from 1885 until his death in 1928. The school closed in 1991 and is currently owned by the Knox County School Board, which leases it to a non-profit organization. The school continues to languish in a deteriorated state, and the resources for its preservation are lacking.

Rule High School

Knox Heritage Board members tour of Rule High School

Historic Knoxville High School to be adaptively reused

Knoxville High School Building (H-1 Overlay) 101 E. 5th Avenue In November 2012, the Knox County School Board passed a resolution to surplus the former school building, located at 101 E. Fifth Avenue, effective June 30, 2013. The board asked the Community Design Center to identify the building's best uses and most economically viable purposes. The Community Design Center also hosted a public input meeting in January 2013 to discuss future uses

Downtown Design Overlay Projects

109 Gay Street The renovations approved by the Downtown Design Review Board in August 2012 and recently implemented include a new wood storefront and upper windows that are more in keeping with the style of the building. The storefront windows are utilized for retail display in a manner that was originally intended.

Former storefront New Storefront

109 Gay Street renovation in the Downtown Design Overlay (D-1)

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Andrew Johnson Hotel Renovation— 910 S. Gay Street

Andrew Johnson Hotel building In December 2012, the Public Building Authority (PBA) proposed repairs and maintenance to the façade of the former Andrew Johnson Hotel building, which now houses the County School Board offices as well as the PBA offices. These repairs include repointing masonry mortar joints, replacing broken decorative balusters, replacing window lintels, and repairing and repainting the cornice.

JFG Coffee Historic Sign Designation

The JFG Coffee neon sign had been a landmark on the South side of the Tennessee River, east of the Gay Street bridge, since its construction and installation during the 1950s. JFG Coffee was founded in the late 1880s and moved to downtown Knoxville in the 1920s. JFG are the initials of James Franklin Goodson, the founder of JFG Coffee. The company produced coffee, mayo and peanut butter until 2006.

In 2010, the sign had been taken down for refurbishment and unfortunately the existing lease agreement stated that if the sign was taken down the lessor could take the opportunity to use the land for other purposes. The lessor exercised that right. Due to a public outcry among citizens stating that the JFG Coffee neon sign was a fixture to the South Knoxville, Reily Foods (the owner of the sign) secured an alternate location for the sign in East Knoxville on property owned by the Kerbela Shriners. The Historic Zoning Commission approved its Historic Designation in June 2012, which allowed it to be located off-site from its associated business. The on-switch was “flipped” by a citizen contest winner on Boomsday, September 1, 2012.

Refurbished “JFG” sign with energy-saving LED bulbs to light up the 3 letters

Gay Street Nomination: “Great Streets” Award by American Planning Association

Gay Street was recognized in September 2012 as one of the country's “Great Streets” by the American Planning Association (APA). Because of historic preservation efforts and the street’s continuous contribution to Knoxville’s economy and vibrant arts scene, 10 blocks of Gay Street from the south end of the Gay Street Bridge to West Jackson Avenue were singled out by APA.

The application was a collaboration among MPC staff, various city departments, architects, and others who have taken a keen interest making downtown a better place to live and work. There are many agencies and individuals who share the credit for the street’s vitality, which has essentially followed twenty-five-years of public initiatives and private investment. Following adoption of a Downtown Plan and Streetscape Plan in the late 1980s, the City initiated an improvement program utilizing financial tools such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) that greatly influenced private investment in retail and offices, as well as housing. Nearly all of the private investment was directed to the re-use of National Register of Historic Places buildings.

Gay Street “hoop and drum” gathering in Krutch Park

Recommendations for Action 2013

• Examine staffing needs to strengthen code enforcement for compliance with Historic Zoning Overlay regulations as a way to reinforce the private sector’s rehabilitation efforts and encourage investor confidence. Strengthening code enforcement also promotes equitable compliance among owners.

• Establish funds sufficient to alleviate the “demolition-by-neglect” status of at least one significant building annually. This process is more accurately called “proactive preservation.”

• Utilize Tennessee Historical Commission Historic Preservation Fund grants to update design guidelines to address new building and construction trends relative to solar technology, new alternative building materials, window replacement, and landscaping.