The President’s Corner

It Can Happen Here

In June of 2001, six historic homes in Fort Sanders were needlessly, even senselessly destroyed.  Homes that could have been (and should have been) saved were razed with no regard to their significance or historic value to the history of Fort Sanders and Knoxville.  At the time, the fine for demolishing the homes in a historic neighborhood was a paltry $50 a house.

Since then, the city of Knoxville has gone to the state legislature, backing a bill to raise that fine to a more reasonable maximum of $10,000 per structure.  Unfortunately, those efforts were needlessly and senselessly destroyed by a lobbyist for the Cherokee Country Club (read that story here).

What do these two things have to do with Old North Knoxville?  Just this: it can happen here.  There are homes in Old North Knoxville that could easily be save or razed.  And the choice is very much in our hands: yours and mine.

You may be wondering what you can do to keep this from happening.  The answer to that is simple: get involved.  Attend the monthly meetings, pay the membership dues, and be willing to help.

There is an old story about the man who did not speak up when the authorities came and illegally took first somebody of a different skin color, then somebody in another part of the city, then one of this neighbors.  And finally, when the authorities came for him, there was nobody to speak up for him.

Old North Knoxville is a wonderful neighborhood that is rich in history and character.  Each time we lose a home here or in any of the historic neighborhoods in Knoxville, we lose a little of ourselves.  The only way we can stop it is to get involved, and attending the monthly meetings is a good place to start.  Your neighbors need you and you need them.  And you'll be thankful you did.

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