Historic Zoning Commission
Fort Sanders NC-1: Level IV
5-O-18-HZ
Staff Recommendation
MPC staff supports the expansion of the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center as a priority for the overall community; however, staff recommends the:
1) continued co-operation of Covenant Health with the documentation of this important site that was first supported in 2008 by Max Shell, a Covenant Health representative, and allow archaeological research (i.e. monitoring during removal of the houses from the property) and additional needed investigations as determined by a professional archaeologist, so that any important Civil War data discovered at the site can be scientifically recovered and preserved;
2) repair and maintain existing stone retaining wall on site at northeast corner of the property, or donate the stone to Knox Heritage so that it may be used to repair similar retaining walls elsewhere; and
3) protection and retention of the large tree on Eighteenth Street-side of the property.
Applicant Request
Level IV. Demolition of contributing structure
Other: relocation or demolitionDemolish house to construct a parking garage expansion for Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center (FSRMC).
Site Info
Queen Anne (1897)Two-and-a half-story frame unusual transect plan featuring a hipped roof with a steeply pitched front gable and twin cross-gables on each side. Keytstoned fanlight transom over the original eight-paneled door (currently boarded). Segmentally arched roof portico at front entry with deep fascia supported by square posts. One-story canted bay on front elevation crowned with carved cornice brackets. One-story porch on east elevation with hipped roof supported by wooden support posts featuring decorative geometric appliques. One-over-one double-hung and two-over-two wooden windows (currently boarded). Interior offset rear brick chimney (currently missing). Brick foundation and aluminum siding. (Contributing)
1) The Fort Sanders Neighborhood Conservation Overlay was approved by City Council on September 13, 2000. The house located at 1802 Highland Avenue is a contributing structure within both the Fort Sanders Neighborhood Conservation Overlay and the Fort Sanders National Register District designated in 1980.
2) The Fort Sanders Neighborhood Plan, unanimously adopted by City Council in May 2002, includes a Land Use and Development Plan, a map that delineates appropriate types of development for each block of the neighborhood. The plan also contains a "Core Area Conservation Plan," including a proposed map of the currently adopted Neighborhood Conservation Overlay (NC-1) district.The plan recommends low-medium residential density for the subject parcel.
3) A report on research begun in 2008 by professional archaeologist Dr. Charles H. Faulkner and his wife, Terry, on Civil War Fort Sanders was submitted to MPC staff in 2016. This report indicates there are significant Civil War archaeological remains located on the property at Highland Avenue and Eighteenth Street and that the property contains the only documented unmodified land surface that exists in the area of the 1863 Battle of Fort Sanders site. The report was submitted to MPC as reference material for staff to consider when making recommendations for the property in the future. (Tennessee State Archaeological Site Number, 40KN333).
4) Based on the Knox County Property Assessor's Ownership records, the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center (FSRMC) has owned the property since February 15, 2008.
5) The property was occupied at the time of the FSRMC purchase in 2008, but has since been vacant.
6) The building's window and door openings are boarded, so it is not known if these are intact. Original porch posts, chimney stack, and all decorative elements are missing or covered by aluminum siding.
7) As of December 2013, the house did not qualify for the City's demolition-by-neglect process; however, it did exhibit minor violations of peeling paint and deteriorated siding according to City Public Services. The house is currently in poor condition: the roof is in severe disrepair and an attic window has been documented to have been open since at least October 2016, the brick foundation has been compromised, and the horizontal structural beam of the side porch roof is sagging.
