Knoxville Lost and Found

At the corner of Henley Street and the Clinch Avenue viaduct, stands an early 1980's building. It was built during the construction of the World's Fair Park, when the old rail yards were reborn into a global stage. The building was perhaps the most practical of all the structures built for the fair as it soon housed the Knoxville administrative offices for the State of Tennessee. It has served that purpose for over thirty years, however, that is all soon to change. Tennessee State Office Building Recently, the local newspaper has announced that the state has agreed to sell the state office building to a local developer/hotelier, who also owns the adjoining Holiday Inn. He intends to turn the state office building into the fanciest hotel in Knoxville.  Story Here. Called the Tennessean, it will boast sleekly designed, large, luxurious rooms. The plan is promising, mostly attractive, and offers a sensible path to reuse a large but otherwise unremarkable (to some) building...

In recent decades Knoxville has made earnest, albeit small, attempts to recognize it's musical history. There was the "Tribute to Country Music Park," complete with a fiberglass sculpture of a giant treble clef. The clef is gone, but the park remains. We have the "Cradle of Country Music Walking Tour", however I can't say that I've seen many people walking it. We used to have the Midday Merry Go Round, when WNOX featured artists that shaped early country music, weekdays at lunch. Now we have the WDVX Blue Plate Special, not exactly the same thing but it makes for good listening. One particular item that will stand out in the minds of old time music lovers would be the digitalization of the St. James recordings. Back in 1929, a billards concern turned big record company, Brunswick, came to Knoxville from Michigan looking for musical talent. Brunswick had a reputation for scouting out new sounds before they had been discovered. They set up shop in the bu...