J. Allen Smith Endangered Properties Fund

Knox Heritage has worked for more than 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 provided 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, named in honor of the recently demolished J. Allen Smith house 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.