Byline: Roger Harris
Jun. 14--FACADE PROJECT GETS NOD: A downtown Knoxville facade renovation project was honored on a national stage last week.
Sanders/Pace Architecture LLC received a Merit Award in the 2006 American Institute of Architects Gulf States Honor Awards Program for the transformation of the facade at 304 S. Gay St., a 100-year-old building damaged twice by fire.
The regional awards were presented Friday during the AIA national convention in Los Angeles. A jury considered 115 projects from the five-state region and presented 18 awards.
Jury comments on the Sanders/Pace project included: 'A rich and expressive solution to small problem,' and 'Interesting response to original asymmetry of existing facade.'
The Gulf States region covers Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
John Sanders and Brandon Pace, the firm's principals, previously received an award for the Gay Street facade project from the AIA East Tennessee chapter.
Knox County residents can have their say about a proposal to build a business park near Throngrove Pike and Midway Road at a public meeting at on June 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Thorngrove Baptist Church, 10200 Thorngrove Pike.
The Development Corporation of Knox County last week authorized spending up to $11 million to buy up to 470 acres near the Midway Road-Interstate 40 interchange in East Knox County.
The Development Corp., a nonprofit agency formed by local business and government leaders, currently has about 365 acres under option.
Some Thorngrove-Midway area residents are concerned that a business park would hurt the rural quality of life they now enjoy. Economic development officials say the park would bring much-needed jobs to the county.
The proposed business park site is now mostly farmland used as pasture.
Construction of a state-of-the-art sports training center was completed earlier this spring in Maryville on the site of the former Cherokee Lumber Co.
The $2.5 million Cherokee Athletic Facility on 4.5 acres at 1410 Sevierville Road includes two new buildings -- a 10,000-square-foot indoor baseball and softball facility with artificial turf, batting machines and a clay pitching mound; and a 14,000-square-foot health club, which has weight machines, free weights and other equipment.
The indoor facility also has a sand pit for agility training and an 80-yard sprint track for speed work.
The new sports buildings are impressive, but Cherokee Athletic also gets high marks for making good use of the building that previously housed Cherokee Lumber's offices. The former lumberyard office building was built in 1898 and walls made from virgin cut hemlock were preserved, according to Joe Black, CEO of Appalachian Therapy Center in Maryville and a member of the Cherokee Athletic management team.
Gary Best was the architect for the Cherokee Athletic Facility project and Odom Construction was the contractor.
Business writer Roger Harris' Property Watch column appears on Wednesday. He may be reached at 865-342-6342 or harrisr@knews.com.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
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