Historic Zoning Commission

South Knoxville High School Historic Landmark: Level II

2-H-19-HZ

Applicant Request

Level II. Major repair or replacement of materials or architectural elements

All original windows which are wooden12/12 double-hung will be replaced with 12/12 metal-clad windows with 12/12 simulated-divided-light (SDL) to match style and size of original. The gym clerestory and rear addition windows are not SDL and have no muntins. The original frieze band will be restored.

A replacement building for the collapsed 2-story noncontributing addition will be constructed upon the former footprint on the west (rear) side of the existing building. The new building will also be 2-story and have a generally flat roof (surface not visible). The exterior will be finished in brick and smooth-faced fiber cement board siding. The windows will be metal-clad 1/1 double-hung windows of the same size as the originals on the historic building.

A covered entry is proposed for the Tipton Avenue (south) side. The entry structure will be of metal contemporary design. The lawn and the medians of the school will all be re-landscaped with shrubs and trees.

Site Info

One-story red brick building with a raised basement. Constructed in a U-shaped plan, the building faces east with the formal entry centered on the east elevation of the building, at the base of the U-shape. The central entry is marked by an entablature with a full cornice return, with three doors flanked by engaged brick pilasters with Doric cast stone capitals resting on cast stone plinths. The entry doors throughout the structure are half view doors topped by transoms. Twelve -over-twelve double-hung wood windows with brick sills are found throughout the remainder of the building. The building is topped by a shingled roof, hipped at each end of the wings that form the U-shape. Dentil molding appears at the cornice line.

The northernmost leg of the U-shape on the east elevation is marked by three windows that are twelve-over-twelve, divided by engaged brick pilasters with stone capitals in a Doric design and by squared plinths that rest on a stone beltcourse. The southern leg is also divided by identical brick pilasters, but has brick panels without the windows that mark the rest of the building.

Centered on the south elevation is an unroofed concrete stoop that leads to a single entry door, recessed, and topped by a small light transom. On the north elevation is a similar centered entry, reached by a single flight of stairs from the sloping ground level terrain. There is also a single door entry at ground level on the north elevation, accompanied by smaller eight over eight double hung windows that lead into the basement of the primary building.

1. The building is an individually designated Historic Landmark property (H-1 zoning overlay) designated in 2011.

2. The façade is proposed to be restored to its original appearance using in-kind materials.

3. The original 12/12 wooden double-hung windows are too deteriorated to be restored, and will be replaced with metal-clad to match except that the muntins will be in the form of simulated divided lights. As a precedent for this type of structure, the HZC approved metal-clad windows to replace the wooden windows at Knoxville High School in May 2016. The original windows have no distinguishing decorative features to be reproduced except for the 12/12-light configuration.

4. The rear addition dating to sometime in the 1940s was not architecturally significant, and the replacement building will be in the same location, constructed to the same height and size. The brick and fiber cement board sheathing will distinguish the new building from the historic main building.

5. The new metal entry canopy on the west side will not be attached to the building, so may be easily removed. The contemporary design will destinguish it as a new structure and will not compete with the historic façade.

6. The proposed landscaping retains the original grassy front lawn of the school.