Knoxville's downtown: 'No finer place for sure ... '

Photo by Clay Owen // Buy this photo

A scene from the 7th annual Rossini Festival on Gay Street and Market Square in 2008.

Photo by Clay Owen

A scene from the 7th annual Rossini Festival on Gay Street and Market Square in 2008.

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

Kuumba Festival "It was a revelation that Market Square might be attractive to young African-Americans. Plus, it was more welcoming to whites. People didn't even know how enjoyable downtown was. That unspoken thing (breaking racial divides) is what made me feel so good about it." - Nkechi Ajanaku

In the beginning was the Dogwood Arts Festival. A quarter of a million people came last year to that April celebration of everything Knoxville.

DAF is now a half-century old, but no continuum of downtown life-in the sense of residents, businesses, theaters, bars and restaurants-restored Knoxville to the bustle it had in the 19th century until the past couple of decades.

During the early ’90s, it was a ghost town. Randall Kenner of the city’s Policy and Communications department, recalls his days at the Knoxville News Sentinel: " I joked that you could walk down the middle of Gay Street after 6 p.m. and not worry about getting hit by a car. You might see a couple of cars and maybe one or two other people."

A 2006 study showed about 13 million people come downtown yearly as residents or visitors looking for shopping, business or pleasure. That’s about 30 times the population of the entire county. And it’s a number that has likely grown over the last two to three years according to Michele Hummel, director of the Central Business Improvement District.

There is so much going on - shows, concerts, movies, happy hours, restaurant specials, presentations or festivals-that an ironic complaint old Knoxville hands enjoy is how they have to pick what not to do.

"No doubt, arts and culture play a critical role in the development of downtown," says city Special Events Director Mickey Mallonee.

DAF Executive Director Lisa Duncan recalls author John Gunther’s clichéd slur of Knoxville as "the ugliest city in America." That insult led directly to the creation of the Dogwood Arts Festival which she describes as "a catalytic morale booster," setting in motion the multiplicity of cultural attractions now in place.

It doesn’t seem possible since that first wild Junkanoo parade through the Old City, but the Kuumba Festival has been around more than two decades. With the jump to Market Square a few years ago, Kuumba underwent a quantum shift. Nkechi Ajanaku, executive director of the African American Appalachian Arts organization, saw crowds multiply by thousands. More importantly, the move instantly broadened the event’s racial interface.

"That first year on Market Square, I was so surprised at how many people came," Ajanaku exults. "It was a revelation that Market Square might be attractive to young African-Americans, plus, it was more welcoming to whites (than some East Knoxville venues). People didn’t even know how enjoyable downtown was. That unspoken thing (breaking racial divides) is what made me feel so good about it." The next Kuumba Festival is slated for June 24-27.

Market Square, "the most democratic place on earth" (as characterized by writer-historian Jack Neely), also factors into the assimilation of the growing Latino population of Knoxville.

Translator Patricia Robledo is executive director of the 11-year-old Hola Festival. "This was our fourth year in the heart of downtown, Market Square. In the past three years, we went from 3,500 to 7,500 to 10,000 participants. Our main goal is to highlight the diversity of Hispanic cultures. It’s not a festival by Hispanics for Hispanics," she emphasizes.

"Where else in Knoxville can you not only eat salsa, but dance to it? A festival attendee told me she never realized Hispanic culture was so diverse. When she heard ‘Hispanic,’ she thought ‘Mexican.’ Thanks to the Hola Festival, she knows better," enthuses Robledo. The next Hola Festival will be Oct. 9.

This year marks the 9th annual Rossini Festival Italian Street Fair. Rossini, set for April 23-25, apparently is the only downtown event in which drinking on the streets is a primary attraction. Last year, it brought 70,000 downtown. "It offers an opportunity to experience and celebrate the color, fun and excitement of the opera, Italian culture and cuisine and a full array of artisans," says festival co-chair Allison Easterday. "Most people have never experienced the thrill of the opera. This provides a very approachable and exciting introduction to it."

Rhonda Rice, executive vice-president of Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, says her organization relocated to Market Square "to be in the heart of downtown." The increase in attendance at downtown events owes to several factors, she says, crediting the cooperation between many city, business and individual entities.

Within the Chamber is the Central Business Improvement District. "The number and diversity of events have increased dramatically over the last 10 years," says CBID Director Michele Hummel, citing the above-mentioned festivals as well as Movies on the Square, Brewer’s Jam, Old City Pub Crawl, Wine on the Water, Christmas in the City, Holidays on Ice, Market Square Farmers’ Market, Symphony on the Square, First Friday and others. Many of these follow in the footsteps of AC Entertainment’s Sundown in the City concert series, Hummel notes.

Rice makes a point of mentioning the obvious benefit of having the University of Tennessee nearby. UT gives Knoxville a constant infusion of adventurous and intellectually curious young people, imparting youthful energy to the city.

Mallonee herself was a UT student in 1960, working part-time downtown. She remembers a lively downtown, at least at Christmas: "There were times the sidewalks were so packed you could hardly make your way down the streets. It was amazing. I left for many years, and when I came back, I was dismayed when I saw downtown. There was a sign on one of the vacant buildings which said, ‘Will the last person leaving downtown please turn off the lights?’ What a difference we have today."

Duncan cites several economists who says "Cities having a vital creative culture do not just survive, they thrive!"

This all goes to show the diversity and vitality of downtown Knoxville, a city that embraces everything from Gospel to Gay, from Honda Hoot to Suttree Stagger.

The Sundown in the City concert series’ popularity has inspired review of use of its venue - Market Square - by the city, the Market Square District Association, CBID, music promoter AC Entertainment and other stakeholders. Changes to that policy can be seen at www.cityofknoxville.org/events/marketsq.asp.

© 2010 Knoxville.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.