Urban Renewal

Bus stop


I feel somewhat better this day; some of the soreness has left my fingers and knees, but now I have a lot of chest congestion, a malady which many other people seem to have. Carolyn is still shaking off the flu, and it is difficult to stop her from her daily activities anyway. She had to work yesterday, and I spent the day either in bed or in front of the tv; neither is a desireable place in such beautiful warm weather as we have had since Friday. It is supposed to get back to winter by the coming weekend.
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Saturday we went out to try and find some photo opportunities, but I became so ill it was nearly impossible for me to lift the camera. I was bound and determined to get us away from the house for awhile, so I drove the back roads to Mountain City and then on to Trade and over the border into North Carolina. I hit some back roads there and then returned to Mountain City and on to Damascus, Virginia. From there, I drove to Abingdon and back home via Bristol and Watauga Flats. It has been 15 years or longer since I was in the Abingdon area, and my how it has grown. Driving on I-81 there is much like driving I-40 in Knoxville. That is another thing that makes me wonder about the viability of Johnson City (JC) as being the commercial leader of the Tri-Cities for much longer. I can see JC quickly becoming a bedroom community for dieing people; people like myself that are past retirement age and do not have a lot of years left.
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Speaking of JC, I read where the Johnson City Development Authority (JCDA) has convinced our wise city leaders to purchase the old Young's Tobacco Warehouse, so it can be demolished and a "green strip" leading to downtown put in its place. Young's is the long building that lies between the Norfolk-Southern Railroad and Lamont Street near downtown. The structure was built in a fashion so that it is curved just like the railroad tracks. After its days as a tobacco warehouse had passed, some of it was used by Faircloth Chevrolet and then Sherwood Chevrolet as an indoor showroom and auto body shop. Another part of the building was used as an Allis-Chalmers tractor dealership for many years, then the White family from Erwin used it as a warehouse for their grocery store chain.

I understand the warehouse is deteriorating from years of neglect, but as far as I can tell, it has yet to become an eyesore or a public nuisance. It wil probably make a nice green area, even though it is jammed against the busy RR tracks on one side and the street on the other. There is a small creek that runs in a culvert beneath the building, and opening it up may help alleviate some of the downtown flooding. Eventually, I can see the little used portion of Lamont Street being closed and more property being purchased on the other side of it.

What makes me mad about the whole thing is JCDA always getting its way with the city commission. Together they have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in downtown rejuvenation over the past three decades, and nothing has come of it except one block of Main Street has become partially developed, and several beautiful, old structures like the Majestic Theater and the Arcade building have been demolished. JCDA's biggest claim to fame is the Public Library being built near downtown; not in downtown. The library sits near the top of a hill overlooking the old city center, and was an overly-expensive thing to build, it is modernistic, ugly and not conforming to the main theme of renewal which is the old Johnson's Depot after which the town is named.

Furthermore, JCDA just recently convinced the city to purchase the old Interstate Foundry land and adjoining properties to develop as apartments. This tract includes a beautiful green area containg the same creek that runs under the Young property. Many critters—mostly ducks—call this home. Even if it still exists after the huge apartment complex is completed, it will not be the same.Technorati Tags: JCDA, Johnson City Tenn

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