Knoxville pics - downtown, a historic hood, and Hope VI

[LSyd]

i was at the parents' Memorial Day weekend and went downtown for some pics. but a couple weeks before, i went to a model show at the shriner's hall.

nice view





model tanks kick ass, especially WWII ones



LSyd's tank (built about 3 years ago)



now for Memorial Day











where the Sprankle Building used to be; 101-year old 5 story residential building demolished for a surface lot to be replaced with new 3-story office building in 2-5 years





see this site for pics before demolition

good read, "RIP Sprankle Building"

ironically, across the street is new residential construction







Market Square





































the old city - the older part of downtown, at the bottom of the hill. good nightlife district.













courtyard of Blue Cats, best club in Knoxville















yes, Knoxville has a homeless problem

















Emporium's supposed to be a really good art gallery getting in a lot of people going through the area; i'll have to check it out next time







a few pics from the Gay Street viaduct (tied for #11 with other downtown viaducts for the most endangered historic structures in Knoxville)







Knoxville's most endangered historic building, The McClung Warehouses





Fourth and Gill - historic hood that runs up against downtown

i hadn't really been in this hood before, but went into it to take pics of some rowhouses i saw from the interstate



































College Homes, now Mechanicsville - this used to be Knoxville's worst housing project, College Homes (named for nearby Knoxville College.) but Hope VI has changed it almost beyond recognition and put the name of the larger neighborhood on it

old article on it







some cool buildings nearby on Western Avenue



so again, no UT pics, sorry.

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[Raleigh-NC]

LSyd, these photos are fantastic. I've never been to Knoxville, but you make the place look really nice. I am impressed by the amount of older buildings that the city has preserved, although I am very unhappy to see that Sprankle Building being demolished, just to become a parking lot and later a shorter building What a shame!!! Let's hope that the [future] developer will revise the plans and build something worthy of Sprankle Bldg.

Also, I loved the photos from the model show I did many of those in my early teen years and I was thinking about starting again. Do you have any more photos from that show?

[eightiesfan]

Nice pics! I haven't ever had a chance to spend time in Knoxville. For those that have been, how does it compare to Nashville or Memphis?

[astro]

Thanks for the Knoxville pics! Knoxville has some cool older architecture which I'm glad they have been able to preserve.

[Rural King]

Originally Posted by eightiesfan

Nice pics! I haven't ever had a chance to spend time in Knoxville. For those that have been, how does it compare to Nashville or Memphis?

IMO its like a smaller Memphis downtown, and a smaller Nashville when it comes to things outside the CBD. Interesting mix of the two.

[Evan]

Knoxville is a pretty groovy little city. It and Chattanooga are my 2 favorite big cities in Tennessee. Nothing at all wrong IMHO with Nashville and Memphis, just that Knoxville and Chattanooga always had a little more charm to me.

[LSyd]

thanks y'all.

Raleigh, i decided to make those pics into a thread. click here for it

eighties, it's smaller than the other two, with less to do. UT football culture dominates most of the year, well, mostly in the fall.

evan, maybe it's the mountains?

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[Evan]

Originally Posted by LSyd

thanks y'all.

Raleigh, i decided to make those pics into a thread. click here for it

eighties, it's smaller than the other two, with less to do. UT football culture dominates most of the year, well, mostly in the fall.

evan, maybe it's the mountains?

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heh, it could be.