Old North House in Car Crash!

Late December 10, 2001, Old North Knox denizen Kim Davis was dozing on her couch when suddenly a horrendous sound startled her out of her peaceful state!  Certain that the sound had originated from a collision on Glenwood (a common occurrence on rainy days and nights), she grabbed her cordless phone and walked towards the front of the house (husband Fred Sahms was in North Dakota).  When she opened the front door, she was again startled to see a 1987 Toyota MR2 pressed up against the wall of the front porch, and a dazed young man walking around the yard.  After ascertaining that he was okay (this took a minute or two, as he did not speak English) and calling the police, she assessed the damage, shown in these photos.  Although the house was still standing, both 17” brick columns had rotated on their bases several degrees, and the front wall was completely blown out.  Amazingly, the wooden floor was completely intact. 

Not only did the young man (who had a resident alien card) not have insurance; he did not have a driver’s license.  He indicated to the policepersons at the scene that he had taken the Spanish version of Tennessee’s driver’s license exam, but had failed.  His maximum fine for driving without a license, and causing several thousand dollars of damage with his borrowed uninsured car, was $100.  Think that all this discussion about Tennessee’s “proof of insurance” law and post-9/11 concern over licensing non-citizens is going to change this situation?  Until mandatory insurance is enforced, and harsher penalties are handed out for driving without a license, nothing will change in Tennessee, where the rules don’t apply to a large percentage of the population, unfortunately.  

Kim hypothesizes that for 85 years, a large maple tree had protected the house.  You may recall that this 3-foot diameter, healthy tree was cut down – for firewood – back in 1999.  The car tracks go right over the remains of the stump. 

A few days after the crash, a structural engineering friend of Kim’s, Richard Stache, P.E., gave his recommendation: completely rebuild the whole right side of the porch, and pour a new 24” x 12” concrete foundation.  He was certain that the crash had severely compromised the structural integrity of areas of the porch beyond the visible damage caused by the car.  Kim and Fred contacted John Wampler of High Oaks Construction, Inc. (the contractor who worked on 229 E. Scott), who proceeded to do a “bang-up” job of restoring the porch.  They carefully dismantled the wall and columns, dug up the bricks out of the ground that originally supported the house, then cleaned all the bricks for reuse.  John performed tests on the mortar before rebuilding the house, to make sure that the color was as close as possible to the original.  The job was completed January 28, 2002, and it looks, well, the same as before – which is what Kim and Fred wanted!