The President's Corner

Preserving the Past, 
Preparing the Future

Historic preservation is an ongoing process, with gains often made one house at a time. On May 6th Mayor Ashe delivered the first state of preservation in Knoxville report to a crowd gathered near the endangered historic J. Allen Smith house on Lyons View Dr. This report was the result of a charter amendment voted into existence in 2002. It makes preservation a stated goal of the city government and this yearly report one way of accessing the successes and shortcomings of the preservation efforts in Knoxville. 

The MPC (Metropolitan Planning Commission) provided input to the mayor. (To see a copy of their report, click here.) This information is something the MPC was already doing even before the amendment went into affect. Ann Bennett of the MPC spent many hours meeting with concerned citizens from across Knoxville, listening, taking notes, and working to fold those concerns into the MPC's report. Mayor Ashe then took this information and used it as the basis for his May 6th presentation. To help address one of the concerns voiced by citizens and the MPC, Mayor Ashe has directed the city law department to draft an ordinance to prevent historic buildings from

	Above is a home in Ft. Sanders that was allowed to suffer "demolition by neglect" before it was illegally demolished.

falling victim to "demolition by neglect." If this ordinance is passed and sufficiently enforced by the city, it will be a step forward in the ongoing preservation process. Historic structures should not be left to the ravages of neglect any more than they should be left to the caprice of the wrecking ball. Neither option serves the interests of historic structures, historic neighborhoods, or the history of Knoxville and Knox County.

But it will be up to us, you and me, to make sure such an ordinance is passed. Contact Mayor Ashe, thank him for requesting this and ask him when it will be ready. When it comes out, review it, and then contact city council members and ask them to pass it. Only by preserving our past can we prepare our future.

Contact Mayor Ashe at: vashe@cityofknoxville.org.

Return to newsletter table of contents