Knox County Board of Education to consider ET Community Design Recommendation for Oakwood Elementary School at tonight’s meeting.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/aug/09/board-to-consider-surplusing-oakwood-school/
Archive for the ‘ETCDC Projects’ Category
Oakwood School – news paper article
Monday, August 9th, 2010Community redevelopment
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Downtown Vestal, the community design center has been working with the community and the city of Knoxville on a plan for redevelopment of Vestal for somewhere around 10 years. It is becoming a reality.Taken from the Knoxville News Sentinel 7-28-10.
While the waterfront upgrade in South Knoxville seems to be stalled, the downtown upgrade in the Village of Vestal is busily on the move. Sidewalks and curbs are being placed alongside the intersection of Martin Mill Pike and Ogle Avenue, and the King Tut Grill is getting a major makeover.
The Laundry Room - Before
New look for The Laundry Room
Before view of the Shops at Vestal
New Look for The Shops at Vestal
Coming soon: New Look for King Tuts
I spoke with Rogers Doughty, who is with the city’s Community Development Department, and he confirmed that the work is being done by the use of federal Empowerment Zone funds, with a 20 percent input by the business owners. The federal funds, which were made available some years ago, must be used by Aug. 15; otherwise, the money will disappear – pffftt!
So, that’s what’s creating all the digging, shoveling, painting and paving that’s going on in downtown Vestal. The Laundry Room has been freshened up with a nice coat of yellow paint, and work is continuing on the interior of the building just north of the King Tut Grill, which is now titled “The Shops at Vestal.”
As for the grill, Doughty says the front of that building has been pressure-washed, and additional painting is planned. The bars will be taken off the windows and replaced with nearly impermeable plastic sheeting. The front also will sport a new door, awning and sign. That work is being done, Doughty says, by Von Settlemyer of Model Construction, whose company also did the improvements to the “Shops” building.
The grill owners, Monir “Moe” Girgis and his wife, Seham Girgis, are checking into sprucing up the interior of the restaurant as well, Seham says, but she wants to wait until they make final decisions before publishing any details.
Harry Allen, who owns Allen Biermakens, has had new windows and new gutters put in, plus a new heating system.
“They also put in a new parking lot for me,” he said, “with a ramp from the lot, so when I get a shipment that needs to be carried in on a dolly, they can get it in here without any stairs.”
The space on the northwest corner of the intersection (where the filling station used to be) will be planted in grass, Doughty says, and serve as a “green spot” until eventually being marketed for a business site.
Further down Martin Mill toward Chapman Highway, Doughty says, the old Gibson Upholstery shop, which you may have noticed has had a really nice upgrade, will now be the office of a fellow named Todd Greene, who runs a sports agency.
So, the times, they are a-changing, neighbors – and I think that’s exciting, don’t you?
n Another nice change that’s been going on for several years in our part of town is the number of people who have been following the advice of the child on the TV commercial to “Reduce, reuse and recycle.”
I see a lot of folks at the Goodwill recycling center on Moody Avenue – just this morning I ran into Bob Huff, who was the principal at Mount Olive Elementary when my children went there. I also had a nice conversation with Linda Wallace, who looks after the place and keeps it tidy. She is well-liked by all of us who frequent the place, and she told me today that she just celebrated a big birthday in June. So, next time you drop by to stash your stuff, remember to wish her a “Happy Birthday” and tell her how much we appreciate her.
Barbara Asbury is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.
KC Library Editorial
Friday, July 9th, 2010Lawson McGhee Library, the flagship of the Knox County Public Library system, is run-down, overcrowded with both patrons and books, and wholly inadequate to meet the 21st century needs of the third largest county in Tennessee.
It’s time to launch an effort to build a new central library, one worthy of the aspirations of our community.
Can Knox County taxpayers afford the estimated $45 million (give or take a million) price tag? Not without the help of local philanthropists who understand the value a library brings to a community. They could do worse than follow in Col. Charles McClung McGhee’s large footsteps.
It was McGhee, one of Knoxville’s wealthiest citizens, who gave the city its first Lawson McGhee library as a memorial to his deceased daughter. The first Lawson McGhee Library opened its doors on October 28, 1886, in what is now known as the Rebori Building on Gay Street.
Built in 1971, the current Lawson McGhee building on Church Avenue no longer can house the library’s collection of materials or host the library’s special events.
Usage is on the increase, despite the growing use of the Internet, but capacity is dwindling. Books are stacked on floors throughout the building – if they haven’t been sent to storage, that is. Employees are crammed into offices. Patrons often must sit on the floor to read or wait to use computers. The need is obvious.
Library officials have been working with the East Tennessee Community Design Center to develop plans for a building with nearly twice the current space. They’re considering three locations, none of them ideal but any of them better than what we now have.
There’s no money for a new library, however, and little stomach among county officials to go $45 million further into debt to pay for construction. A dedicated property tax increase, even one limited by a sunset provision, isn’t a realistic option.
That’s where Knox County’s philanthropists – be they individuals, corporations or foundations – can help. There is a long tradition of philanthropic support for libraries. In addition to Knoxville’s McGhee, industrialist Andrew Carnegie famously funded libraries all across the country. For years during segregation, a Carnegie library served Knoxville’s black community. Carnegie libraries are still in use in Harriman and Etowah, Tenn.
The Knox County Public Library could use modern-day McGhees and Carnegies, people who grasp the idea that a library is more than a book repository; a library also is a chapel of democracy where rich and poor, young and old, the learned and the curious can gather in one place. Our community is blessed with such people.
The recession has drained resources away from nearly everyone and money available for charitable giving, no matter how noble the cause, is tight. Just like tax dollars.
If we truly value education and lifelong learning, however, we should find a way to fund a new central library that will be a reflection of our community’s ideals and a symbol of our hopes for the future.
Northgate Terrace
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010The City of Knoxville through a Neighborhood Small Grants Program funds projects that build relationships among neighbors and at the same time enhances the neighborhood. This program is administered by the East Tennessee Foundation for the City. As one might imagine many groups applying for these grant funds are not an IRS registered nonprofit organization, and as a result cannot be the recipient of public funding. In many (14 to be exact) cases the Community Design Center has provided fiscal sponsorship so these organizations can receive funding for their projects.
One such group is the residents association for Northgate Towers in Fountain City. Residents applied for and received a grant in support of a community garden for use by residents of the tower, and a rock garden contained within the facility entrance lobby.
July the residents held an open house to showcase the result of implementing both ideas. There are 21 garden spots in the community garden with 26 gardeners participating. Bobbie tells me she barters with other gardeners so they all have access to the different vegetables being raised.
