The East Tennessee Preservation Alliance announced its list of endangered historic places for 2013 on Monday.
The alliance's mission is to center attention on historic buildings and properties that are needing repairs and protection in the sixteen-county region. It's part the group's efforts to maitain historic buildings in smaller towns and cities. This list is selected by the ETPA Board of Directors from nominations by its members and the public.
Along with property owners, government officials, citizens and potential new owners, ETPA works to preserve every property on its list. In a press release, the group said it also organizes volunteer service days to help repair and clean up the sites.
Several notable buildings appear on its list of 17 properties: Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge, Brushy Mountain State Correction Facility in Morgan County, the former Tennessee Military Institute in Sweetwater, among others.
Alexander Inn was built in 1943 to house key government officials working on the top-secret Manhattan Project in the "Secret City."
The Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary was built in 1894 as a reaction to the Convict Lease Wars in the coal regions of Tennessee. The facility sits on more than 13,000 acres. Morgan County shut its doors in 2009, and currently the state has no long term plans for the massive facility.
The Sweetwater Military Academy was built in 1874 and was later renamed the Tennessee Military Institute in 1975. The 144-acre campus houses 10 buildings, but because of a decline in enrollment it closed its doors in 2007. As of now, all its buildings sit empty.
Complete list of 2013 East Tennessee's Endangered Historic Places
- Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts: Gatlinburg
- Former Tennessee Military Institute: Sweetwater
- Stonecipher-Kelly-McCartt House: Morgan County
- Alexander Inn: Oak Ridge
- Old Post Office: LaFollette
- The Tanner Cultural Center: Newport
- Abandoned Rural School Houses: Grainger County
- Rural Mount: Hamblen County
- Morristown College: Morristown
- Historic Dandridge School: Dandridge
- Quaker Valley: New Market
- Central Business District: Lenior City
- Old Monroe Health Department/Legion Hall: Madisonville
- Brushy Mountain Sate Correctional Complex: Morgan County
- Neglected Cemeteries: Across entire region
- New Salem Baptist Church: Sevierville
- Oak Grove School: Sharps Chapel