08/18/2000
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Final
(Copyright 2000)
If the Worsham Watkins International plan for redeveloping downtown Knoxville is to be reviewed by an independent company, we hope quality will be a factor and serious consideration will be given to keeping Fort Kid and the Victorian Houses on 11th Street exactly where they are.
The announcement that the plan, which calls for a $440 million public-private project to redevelop the heart of the city, would face a review came during a public hearing on Wednesday. Dale Smith, executive director of the Public Building Authority, said the study would include cost issues -- "not just the costs of construction but lifestyle costs."
Community support appears broad for keeping the houses and Fort Kid in their current location. While the structures are near the Fort Sanders community and the University of Tennessee, residents from South Knoxville and Fountain City, among others, support keeping them where they are and spoke out at Wednesday's hearing.
The issue involving the Victorian houses is not entirely new. The houses were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s and were purchased by Knoxville's Community Development Corp. in 1980 for $143,000. That action was taken in response to residents of Fort Sanders who did not want to lose them to construction of the 1982 World's Fair. Fair developers paid about $350,000 to restore them
The Worsham Watkins plan calls for moving the houses to vacant lots in the Fort Sanders neighborhood. Fort Kid would be rebuilt at a separate location. With the houses and playground moved, the location would be the site of 88 units of carriage-style housing proposed as a transition zone from Fort Sanders to the park.
Fort Kid, constructed for the city's bicentennial in 1991, has been a popular playground for children from all over the city. It is on the spring and summer schedules of day cares and day camps in the area.
Clearly, moving the houses would displace businesses and run the risk that the buildings might not survive the physical ordeal of a move. The owners of the Eleventh Street Expresso Cafe, occupying a building constructed in 1889, are not sure their structure can withstand a relocation.
The area also is immensely popular as it is. The houses and Fort Kid are close to the Candy Factory and the Knoxville Museum of Art. Their popularity will be enhanced by the new convention center going up on the other side of the park.
Instead of relocating the structures, the city should recognize the value of what is there and strengthen that aspect of the community. Spend the money and time to make the houses more attractive to tourists as well as residents visiting the area
The development plan, much of which is bold and visionary, will not unravel if relocating these structures is dropped from the project. The city should make every effort to avoid losing something valuable right under its nose.