Historic Zoning Commission

Market Square H-1: Level II

2-D-11-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Replacement/repair

Add new roof deck, 46'8" x 19'2" set back 10'4" from front of building. Construction to be metal joists and composite decking material suspended above roof deck with ramp from new deck to existing stairway at rear. Continuous railing 3'6" high of 3"x3" steel tube posts 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" top and bottom rails and 1/4" steel coated cables at 4". Penthouse 34'7" long and 5'5" wide and 10'3" high at highest peak with Hardiboard siding and 4" Hardiplank trim, roofed with standing seam metal in dark color and a 5"5"x6' storage room for deck furniture.

NOTE: Modifications were made at the 2/17/2011 Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission meeting to disallow installation of awnings, umbrella tables or planters or other improvements that would be visible from the street level of Market Square and to eliminate visibility of the penthouse by altering the roofline.

Site Info

McBee Trading Company Building. Two story brick building with elaborate corbelling, limestone sills, lintels and cornice and altered storefront.

This building was a dray goods store named the McBee Trading Company, as the first occupant of this building, followed by the Huff Edington department store. In 1935, the building housed a White Store and by 1950 was a clothing store. The building is now known as Preservation Pub.

The current proposal from the applicant begins the deck and the railing at 10'4" back from the front parapet wall; the railing is 42" above the height of the deck and is a metal railing that will be barely visible from the floor of Market Square. The penthouse roof slope has been altered so that the lowest point is at the front, but there is still a small portion of the front wall at the top of the wall that is visible; the applicant has agreed to make every effort to minimize or do away with that visibility if building codes can be satisfied while doing so.

Preservation Brief No. 14 provides that any addition should not harm the character of a historic building by altering historic materials, features and form and should be compatible but differentiated from the historic building. The Brief also provides that any addition should not add more than one story to the height (this penthouse is 10' tall at its highest, rear point, and that it should be set back one bay from the front of the building (which would be true for the penthouse). The current design should be acceptable, provided no umbrellas, canopies or awnings or planters are installed that would be visible from the floor of Market Square.