The pedestrian tunnel at the center of the Kerbela Shriners redevelopment was nominated for historic designation this week, making it the first landmark in Knox County history to be recognized before being built.
The tunnel, which would connect the planned 55-and-older apartment community on the old Kerbela Temple site to the streets below, has already been killed by the Planning Commission, revived days later by a single commissioner changing his mind, and disputed as either public or private, all without breaking ground.
The South Waterfront Heritage Council filed the nomination Tuesday. “Everything else down here got torn down before we could organize,” explained council chair Margaret Teffeteller. “This time we’re getting ahead of it. You can’t demolish something that’s already historic, and you especially can’t demolish something that’s historic and doesn’t exist.”
A commemorative plaque has been drafted. It reads, in full, “ON THIS SITE, A TUNNEL.”
The unresolved ownership question has meanwhile attracted private enterprise. South Knoxville retiree Gene Prater has claimed the tunnel’s midpoint and announced a $2 toll, citing maintenance costs. Asked what maintenance an unbuilt tunnel requires, Prater said, “Gravel. You would not believe what gravel runs these days.”
Developer CR Endeavors described the tunnel as “a concept in motion” and declined to say whether it will be public, private, or remain in its current condition, which planning staff describe as theoretical.
With Tuesday’s nomination, the tunnel has now been killed, revived, public, private, and historic without ever existing, a lifetime-achievement pace previously set by the Andrew Johnson Building.
As of press time, the tunnel does not exist.