Knox County Parks & Recreation Handbook
Oakwood - Lincoln Park Community Survey
Fort Dickerson Park Redevelopment Concept
Housing Development Corporation
The reputation of the Community Design Center is built on 35 years of this basic technical assistance program that operates primarily within the 16 county area of the East Tennessee Development District. 30-45 design assists are reflective of community need and interest and are conducted yearly with other non-profits that otherwise cannot obtain professional design assistance. The Center's role is to work with inner city and rural groups to design and implement projects: to turn a gas station into a day care center; to convert an abandoned church into a community center; to build a play structure in the local school yard. Since the Community Design Center's creation, approximately 800 projects have received assistance through this program.
Recent DesignWorks Projects
- Beaumont Elementary School landscape plan
- James White Parkway Extension task force facilitation
- Loudon County Economic Development Agency handicap access
- Old North Knoxville Traffic Calming
- Positively Living landscape plan
- Ranking Bottoms nature watching deck
- Riverbirch II elderly housing
- South Knox Cherokee Athletic Association phased site improvements
- Sweetwater West End drainage problem
DesignWorks Recently Completed Projects
- Coin logo and outreach brochure - Trael Webb
- Colonial Village - David Watson
- Community Craft Center building expansion - DeWayne Pendley, AIA
- Breakthrough Corporation campus planning - Jennifer Martella, AIA and DeWayne Pendley, AIA
- Hillcrest United Methodist Church after school program renovation - Brian Ewers, AIA
- JW Chestnut House preservation and restoration - Stanley and Josette Rabun
- Kiwanis Fresh Air Camp landscape master plan - Elizabeth Gassel, ASLA
- Knox County Parks and Recreation Handbook - DeWayne Pendley, AIA
- Landfill Learning Center - Frank Sparkman, AIA
- Maynard Glenn Park site master plan - Liz Gassel, ASLA
- Morgan County Visitors Center and Museum - Rick Lindsey, AIA
- Nance House - Josette Rabun
- Oak Ridge Community Playhouse as-builts and renovation - DeWayne Pendley, AIA and Jon Coddington
- Oakwood / Lincoln Park web based survey - Mike Carberry
- Old Gray Cemetery Gate House & Tool House - DeWayne Pendley, AIA
- Old South High facilitation - Perry Childress
- Ramsey House Plantation - Ken Moffet, AIA
- Willow Creek Youth Park - Ric Mixon, AIA
Examples of DesignWorks Projects from Years Past
Click on a project to see a larger photo
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Building Renovation/ Re-use |
New Building |
Playground/ Park |
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DesignWorks Project Requests
Criteria:
- Project must serve the entire community or neighborhood, not a private individual or special interest group. To further define special interest group, assistance may be provided to a church day care program which is open to anyone, but not for sanctuary improvements which is restricted to the congregation or single religion only. Assistance may be provided for recreation areas or other facilities provided or supported by a fraternal organization (Kiwanis, Lions, Shriners, etc.) which serve the community, but not to their private areas (i.e. officers chambers).
- The requesting organization is not for profit and cannot obtain design services through conventional means. In other words, they simply cannot afford to hire services or do not have the technical skill to determine services needed, or do not have access to affordable services due to rural or isolated locale.
- The requesting organization has some means of accomplishing the project if design services are provided, such as a track record of accomplishments, site ownership or control, and identified funding source or potential funding source.
Process to request assistance:
Project requests are reviewed and accepted generally on an ongoing basis.
- Initial phone call and preliminary eligibility determination.
- After receiving request, the Community Design Center staff set up and conduct an investigation meeting at the project site with the client representative to get details and complete an investigation questionnaire. The investigation team and client are to assemble any additional information needed.
- Project requests are reviewed by the Community Design Center's DesignWorks committee at which time the committee recommended slate of new projects is considered and acted on.
- After project is accepted by the Community Design Center, project work proceeds with involvement of task force including professional advisor(s), Community Design Center staff, client representative, and others as needed.
- Center's DesignWorks committee to monitor product quality and a final report is prepared once all work is complete and accepted by the client group, and projects are closed out from active status by the Community Design Center board.
- Limited follow-up assistance is available to clients as they implement their projects, and is provided on request.