something good from something bad

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM KNOX HERITAGE


Knoxville is the home of wonderful historic buildings and
neighborhoods, but many historic properties are rapidly disappearing.
As they vanish, we're losing an important part of our heritage and the
economic benefits these properties could bring.

Knox Heritage has worked for 30 years to save dozens of threatened
historic homes and buildings in Knox County that might otherwise have
been destroyed. However, we need a new and more powerful tool in order
to truly be effective and protect the most fragile and valuable
legacies of our community's rich history. It will be the single most
important program Knox Heritage has ever implemented.

Knox Heritage's J. Allen Smith Endangered Properties Fund will provide
effective alternatives to demolition or neglect of
architecturally and historically significant properties by promoting
their rehabilitation and enabling endangered historic properties to
connect with buyers who will rehabilitate them. Contributions from
across the community have already been received, and we are asking
anyone interested in protecting Knoxville's important historic places
to contribute whatever they can as a sign of support for
preservation in our community. Whether it be $1 or $100,000, every
contribution* will make a difference for the future of our past.

The fund will allow Knox Heritage to accept property donations,
purchase endangered historic properties or purchase options on those
properties. The properties will then be marketed to locate buyers who
agree to preserve and maintain the structures. Protective covenants
will be attached to the deeds to ensure the historic integrity of each
property is retained, and purchasers will be required to sign
rehabilitation agreements based on the work to be performed on the
structure.

This has been an effective tool in many other communities. For example,
in the 1990s, Historic Savannah Foundation, with an initial
investment of $170,000 in eight dilapidated structures, generated the
redevelopment of more than $3 million worth of property in the Beach
Institute neighborhood. This neighborhood, which is a mixed income,
multi-cultural area on the eastern edge of the Landmark District, has
now seen the rehabilitation of approximately 60 buildings and is an
attractive place to live once again. Through its award-winning
endangered properties program, Preservation North Carolina has saved
more than 450 endangered historic properties, generating an estimated
$100,000,000 in private investment.

The same things can happen in Knoxville with this exciting new
preservation tool.

# # #

Knox Heritage is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation
of architecturally and/or historically significant
buildings, open spaces and parks in Knoxville and Knox County,
Tennessee.

Learn more at www.knoxheritage.org.

*All contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law.

For more information:
Kim Trent, Executive Director, (865) 523-8008 or
kimtrent@knoxheritage.org
Kristina Shands, Program Director, (865) 523-8008 or
kristina@knoxheritage.org