For Knox Heritage

Today was my last day as the Knox Heritage intern. I've been putting off writing about them and the reason I became interested in being their intern because it all hits a little close to home (pun unintended), but I thought today would be an appropriate day to tell you my feelings toward a certain urban haven in Knoxville.

I moved into Maplehurst Court about a year and a half ago. If you've ever lived there, I'm sure a whole slew of emotions is being conjured up at the moment. It's a beautiful neighborhood nestled between World's Fair Park, Henley Street, and the Tennessee River. I can see Neyland Stadium and Ayres Hall through the large plate glass window in my apartment. For Booms Day, all my neighbors and I had to do was walk down the street, and ever since I've been working in Market Square, I've only had a 7 minute commute on my bike. The trees are beautiful and large and the architecture is magical. Whereas parents' speak endearingly about their children, conversations in Maplehurst migrate toward cats. They are a common fixture in the yards and bushes, and most people know them by name. I can count on hearing the tapping foot of my upstairs neighbor as he plays his fiddle daily, and my landlord allowed my neighbor and I to start our very first organic garden right outside my door. In the summer, there are cookouts and lots of bluegrass under the dogwoods amidst three beautiful abandoned buildings.

In the midst of the beauty and eclectic nature of where I live, there is also a downside. The buildings are falling apart. Many of my neighbors' ceilings have fallen in. Over and over, they close down single apartments, then the whole building. There are three abandoned buildings that I walk by everyday, and they are beautiful. I am unabashedly in love with them.

Over the past year my friends and neighbors have hung out at night and talked about what we could do to save Maplehurst. There have been rumors for years that the owners were neglecting the buildings so that they would reach an unsalvageable point. Then the demolition of the buildings would take place and, lo and behold, a new space for large condos would become available. Why wouldn't some out-of-town developer not want to make the most (money) from such a great location?

The rumors made my neighbors and me pretty unhappy, and, to make a long story a little shorter, I ended up working at Knox Heritage to see how I could help. With no assistance from me, they announced that Maplehurst was one of their Fragile 15, a list of 15 buildings or areas that they would push to save over the next year.

Things are still up in the air for Maplehurst, but it seems that the current owners are doing their best to save what they can of the existing buildings. I realize now as I leave, preservation is far more complicated than I thought, and there are a lot of people that just don't care about it. There are also a lot of incredible people that do (i.e. Kim Trent, Becky Hancock, Hollie Cook, and now, Ethiel).

I'm sad to leave Knox Heritage but am also incredibly thankful for their work in Knoxville to preserve the beautiful and neglected structures in our city.

As a Christmas gift to them, I would like to encourage our readers to become Knox Heritage members, which can be as little as $25 a year to join.

I'll leave you with pictures of what I've endearingly called home and what I hope they can continue to help save.