Developer David Dewhirst tells the gathering about his plans for the former Volunteer Ministry Center building - and four others attached to it.
That statement, coming from downtown developer David Dewhirst, seems like the understatement of the century! Dewhirst has made a career of restoring old buildings — and he’s been a major part of transforming downtown Knoxville in the process.
For the second year in a row, Dewhirst led a group of Knox Heritage supporters through his projects at the corner of Gay Street and Jackson Avenue as part of the group’s “Downtown Secret Supper,” one of Knox Heritage’s “Summer Suppers” series of fundraisers. In the “Secret Supper,” you pay your money and you are informed by mail a few days before the event where you are to meet the rest of the group. Parts of the dinner are served in various locations that are only revealed as the evening progresses. It’s great fun — and very educational, too. So, come along on the journey!
Coincidentally, Alan and I happen to live in a great little condo development, Cherokee Lofts on Church Avenue, that Dewhirst also restored. So, although it was not officially a part of the tour, we started our evening with champagne and appetizers in our condo.
My brother, Jimmy Moxley, and his wife, Tess Richard, were visiting. Jimmy was our bartender. (But it was easy -- all we had was champagne!)
Our friends Dawn and Richard Ford also joined us.
Our first stop was the location of the former Volunteer Ministry Center on the corner of Gay Street and Jackson Avenue.
Old Volunteer Ministry Center
David said the Volunteer Ministry Center and the building next door on Gay Street, which he called the Three Feathers Building, along with the Tennessee Associated Building and the Tennessee Armature Building on Jackson Avenue have been at least 50 different establishments throughout their more than 100-year history. Seems that small store owners from the outlying areas would ride the trains to downtown, disembark at the Southern Depot across the street, and shop in the area to stock their stores and trade goods. They were treated to lunch (and other entertainments!) by the owners of the warehouses in the warehouse district in that area. After 1925, the Three Feathers Building was the St. Lawrence Hotel. Prior to that it was a number of saloons and even a “shooting gallery,” although it is not clear exactly what that means.
Volunteer Sean Martin poured wine at the first stop. Appetizers, which were great, were provided by Sangria's on Market Square.
Charlotte Tolley, left, and Katie Ries at the first stop
Everyone gathered around in the gutted building to hear David Dewhirst.
Then we filed around the corner to two buildings Dewhirst owns on Jackson Avenue.
If you want to see the story from last year when Dewhirst introduced us to these buildings, click here. (I think he might be a little behind the schedule he announced last year.)
The Tennessee Associated Building
The buildings were in great disrepair when Dewhirst purchased them. One had a 40-foot hole in the roof where rain had been pouring in for years. It was almost totally rotted in that area. But, Dewhirst said, old buildings are sturdier than new ones. The building materials used back then were extremely heavy and strong. That is a blessing for someone like Dewhirst who is trying to save the spaces.
The Armature Building: all these buildings will provide downtown residences.
A series of clever clues led us to our next stop: Immaculate Conception Church, the oldest Catholic Church in Knoxville, at 414 West Vine Avenue. Alan and I were familiar with it — it’s where we were married 26 years ago!
Immaculate Conception Church
The original Immaculate Conception Church was built on this property — the highest place in Knoxville — in 1855. Why were there so many Catholics in Knoxville? Irish laborers came to town to work on the railroad. Later they were joined by Italian and German Catholic immigrants and soon the small church was overcrowded. So Joseph Baumann, the leading architect in town at the time, was commissioned to design a new church to be built on the same property. The new church was dedicated in September of 1886. After that, the old church was demolished to make room for the completion of the new church.
Pastor Ronald Franco, C.S.P., told us the story of the church. Here he is with Marianne Greene of The Foundry, beside a picture of the original church.
The beautiful altar was added in 1891.
The stunning stained glass windows are a bit of a mystery, as many old church records were lost. They always have attracted visitors -- as they do today. This one depicts St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.
Father Franco said this baptismal font had been lost for many years. It recently was rediscovered -- in a cemetery! It was rededicated just this month.
Jimmy, Tess and Father Franco with the beautiful baptismal font.
Our third location, also within walking distance, was Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law, also known as Old City Hall. The building, which originally served as a school for the deaf as well as a hospital for both sides during the Civil War, was built in 1848. It served as City Hall from 1925 until 1980. When I started at the Knoxville Journal as a reporter in 1980, I covered the City Hall beat and remember going to Old City Hall until the move was made later that year to the City-County Building, where it currently is located. After 1980 it was occupied by the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and TVA offices.
Former State Sen. Bill Owen, who now works for LMU, welcomes us to the historic building.
Owen referred to this room, outfitted as a mock court room, as "a million dollar room."
This is Mary Todd, a pea hen who inexplicably showed up and was named by the students after President Lincoln's wife. They also built her a big bird house!
This lovely setting on the porch is where we had dinner, which was a wonderful lasagna from Coolato Gelato.
Phyllis Nichols and Dan Holbrook were among our gracious hosts.
The centerpieces were fabulous. Behind the flowers are, from left, Christy and Scott Brooks and Richard Ford.
Levon Walker, stationed down in the grass, provided lilting dinner music.
And then it was on to our fourth stop — and dessert! We headed almost back where we had started, this time to 129 S. Gay Street to a three-story building built in 1895. The ground floor today is occupied by the Unarmed Merchants shop. The upper stories are a condo.
129 South Gay Street
One big room in the condo
Lemon chiffon cakes with lemon curd and berries were provided by Just Ripe, the new grocery store/prepared food store on Union Avenue.
These yummy truffles came from Just Ripe, as well.
Everyone checked out the balcony.
Here's the stunning view to the northwest.
And here's the view downtown, to the south.
This is just a fabulous way to spend a fun and interesting Saturday night while supporting a good cause, enjoying great food and getting a little exercise in the process. Now, if I could just talk them into serving pinot grigio instead of chardonnay. . .
The “sawtooth” skylights in one of the buildings are going to be a great condo feature for some lucky buyer(s).
As Summer Supper chair, I will see what I can do about adding a pinot grigio codicil to our Summer Supper guidelines. Thanks for your support of Knox Heritage! See you at the Mad Men Power Evening next weekend?
This is an absolutely fabulous blog post. I so wish I had been able to make this trek. I could have done without pinot grigio – or even the food (although the food sounds and looks excellent) – just to see and hear what was offered. Thanks for the details and the photographs. I can’t wait to see the finished condos on Jackson.
Cynthia,
Thank you for attending the Knox Heritage Secret Dinner a couple of weeks ago at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law. It was most enjoyable and I was honored to act as host for the evening. However, I do need to clarify my role w/ the dinner.
Knox Heritage does a great service to the entire East Tennessee area by helping identify, preserve and renovate historically important structures. One of these buildings is the Old City Hall in downtown Knoxville’s North End.
Knoxville’s Old City Hall was originally built in the late 1840’s as the Tennessee School for the Deaf. During the Civil War, the building served as a hospital for both sides—although not at the same time.
After the Civil War, the building returned to use as the Tennessee School for the Deaf and remained in that capacity until the mid 1920’s when it became Knoxville’s City Hall. It was City Hall until 1977 when the City County Building was constructed and the City vacated the building but retained ownership.
In the early 1980’s the building was leased to the Old City Hall Knoxville Partnership, LLP for 50 years. The Old City Hall Partnership contracted with a nationally known architecture firm to completely renovate the building. The partnership then subleased the building to the Tennessee Valley Authority for 30 years.
TVA occupied the building for approximately 19 years before downsizing and moving out of the building. TVA received approval to further sub lease the building to the Greater Knoxville Chamber of Commerce which occupied the building for a few years before moving to their current location.
In 2006, the Old City Hall Partnership’s General Partner, Squire Henry T. Ogle, contacted me and asked me to find a tenant for the building because TVA had moved out and the building was empty.
An older building of this size and type needs regular care and upkeep to maintain its value. “Mothballing” is not good sustainability strategy.
I readily accepted the task of finding a tenant and approached my longtime client Pete DeBusk. Pete is not only Founder of DeRoyal Industries, but is also Chairman of the Board of Lincoln Memorial University.
We discussed several possible uses for the building, but the low number of parking spaces always limited our options. One day while we were having lunch at Chesapeake’s Pete told me that Congressman Jimmy Duncan was going to give his Congressional Papers to LMU.
I remembered that the Congressman had served as a Judge prior to being elected and this thought triggered an idea. I suggested that we start a night law school and call it the Duncan School of Law. I knew about the success of the Nashville School of Law. I knew that several dozen East Tennesseans drove to Nashville each week to attend law school. I knew that a night school could take advantage of parking areas that were unavailable during the day. Pete liked the idea and we began immediately researching the needed steps to bring it to reality.
Pete and LMU worked tirelessly and generously to extensively update the building and give it a “state of the art” 21st Century interior—completely wired for interactive communicative needs. Yet, the 19th Century exterior was preserved in all of its splendor.
The City of Knoxville and the Old City Hall Partnership owe a debt of gratitude to LMU and Pete DeBusk for their support and dedication in providing a new and needed use for the Old City Hall.
Throughout this transaction I served as a consultant to both LMU and the Old City Hall Partnership. I am not an employee of either pary, but I am committed to both historic preservation and to enhancing educational opportunities in the Knoxville.
Sincerely,
Bill
William S. Owen
President
Asset & Equity Corporation
Urban Guy: thanks for your sweet post. Bill: thanks, too, for taking time to explain all that.
Cynthia- You and Alan have been among our most loyal repeat-guests at the ‘Downtown Secret Suppers’ so as Co-chair (with Mary Holbrook), I want to say thanks for coming, and for your great review in the ‘Streak.’
We really appreciate everyone who is a repeat customer, as we seem empowered to make 95 degree weather occur in early June, each year, just by scheduling our outdoor party in places without A/C!
One last shout-out re your compliement of the center pieces. They were designed and arranged by my also-fabulous wife, Ellen!
We’re glad everyone had fun and helped us support the important work of Knox Heritage. We are also SO grateful to our incredible sponsors this year: Coolato Gelato, Cafe 4, Downtown Grind, Sangria, Just Ripe, Triple C Distributing, and my perennial favorite, Woodruff Brewing! Thanks also to our great host committee.
Wayne Blasius, Secret Supper Co-chair
Great pictures of a great downtown that is getting better, one building at a time.
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