Historic Zoning Commission

Mechanicsville:

7-E-99-HZ

Applicant Request

Structures will be relocated from Ft. Sanders, where JPI intends to demolish this and other buildings. The houses to be moved were all built in the Victorian era, and are appropriate in age and design for infill into the Mechanicsville Historic District. In addition to restoring the exteriors of the houses, foundation height will need to be consistent with neighboring houses, and setbacks must also be consistent. Other details of exterior restoration can be determined when the particular building is selected.

Site Info

There are a number of houses on 12th and Highland in Ft. Sanders that are proposed for redevelopment by JPI. JPI has offered the houses to Knox Heritage for relocation. At the same time, there are vacant lots in Mechanicsville where infill houses from this design era would be appropriate. Chris Kinser has been working with the city's Department of Development to assure that lots are available, and to secure purchsers of the relocated houses. Knox Heritage has been working with JPI, the house movers and city agencies to assure that the houses can be moved. It has not been determined exactly which houses will be moved, nor has their final location been determined. This certificate is to seek permission from the Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission to use the houses as infill in Mechanicsville, and to discuss placement on the lots, foundation heights, and some height and size restrictions. Individual certificates for the rehabilitation details of each house will be presented individually, as they are available. Photographs of the houses being considered for moving are included here. Please consult the map for possible locations.

Historic preservationists do not recommend moving houses, unless there is no other way to save them. There are nearly three dozen houses in Ft. Sanders that JPI intends to demolish. While moving them means that they will lose their historic status, and the Ft. Sanders Historic District will be diminished, there are only two choices with regard to these structures. They will either be moved to another location or they will be destroyed. The houses are architecturally consistent with the architecture of Mechanicsville, where there are vacant lots that predate the enactment of H-1 Historic Overlay Zoning for Mechanicsville.

Mechanicsville is the historic area nearest to Ft. Sanders, and the fact that there is a Mechanicsville H-1 Historic Overlay District assures that the exterior rehabilitation will be appropriate, and that the houses will have some protection against future negative changes. They will be listed as non-contributing structures in the Mechanicsville Historic District. Only after they have been in place fifty years can that status be changed. Approval is recommended because: 1) the houses will be lost to Ft. Sanders, either because they are demolished or because they are moved; 2) they are architecturally appropriate infill for Mechanicsville, and will ameliorate the problem of vacant lots in that neighborhood; and 3) they can have some protection through historic overlay status while they reacquire historic context and significance. Properties include 237 Deaderick (62599Amec-94DK017); 229 Deaderick (62599Bmec-94DK17); 1014 Oak (62599Cmec-94KG20); 1021 Oak (62599Dmec-95FJ31); 414 Deaderick (62599Emec-94FJ32); 1020 McGhee (62599F-94FJ18); 507 College (62599Gmec - 94KD27)

There is an additional policy question that the Commission should discuss. A number of the houses being considered for moving are currently covered with artificial siding. The Mechanicsville Design Guidelines do not allow artificial siding on new construction. As far as the historic district is concerned, these houses are new. The Commission may want to consider increasing its recommendations to provide that the artificial siding must be removed and the original exterior cladding of the house restored within one year, and may want to request that the Community Development Division or Knox Heritage include that provision in its stipulations regarding transfer of the house.