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Candoro Marble history preserved with 'use it or lose it' approach

Volunteers have shifted strategies and increased public access to save the historic Candoro Marble Company showroom building in South Knoxville.

In the Vestal neighborhood of South Knoxville, the Candoro Marble Company building is a historic hand-carved work of art. The facility stands as a stone reminder of the days when local quarries led to Knoxville's "marble city" moniker.

"Tennessee is the only place in the world you can get pink marble. Our quarries were shipping it out all over the world. It was used in the Washington Monument. The lions in front of the New York Library are pink marble. The U.S. Capitol building is pink marble," said Marvyl Triscritti.

Credit: WBIR
Candoro Marble Arts and Heritage Center in South Knoxville.

Triscritti is one of many volunteers devoted to saving the historic building, now known as the Candoro Marble Arts and Heritage Center. The building was constructed in 1923 as a showroom for the Candoro Marble Company. Much of the building was hand-carved by Italian artist Albert Milani.

LINK: Candoro Marble Arts and Heritage website

While many people have worked to save the beautiful building over the last few decades, the current crop of volunteers has decided the best way to avoid losing history is to use it.

Credit: WBIR
National Register of Historic Places sign at the front of the Candoro Marble Company building in South Knoxville.

"They have hosted the annual Vestival art and music festival here for a long time, but that was only one weekend out of the entire year. In the last 17 years, this building has been closed pretty much all the time. So, we started opening it up for tours and other events so we can get the community in here as much as possible. If they see this place and use it, they will care about it and want to preserve it," said Triscritti. "We keep an updated events calendar on Facebook."

LINK: Candoro Marble Facebook page and events schedule

Gone is the previous approach of treating the marble structure strictly as a museum. Now it is a community event space that hosts game nights, yoga classes, and offers free tours every Sunday afternoon from April through October.

Credit: WBIR
Marble floors, walls, and artwork adorn the Candoro Marble Arts and Heritage Center in South Knoxville.

"Now we open it up as a place for meeting spaces, weddings, photography, and other events. We have someone here every Sunday from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. for tours. It is all done by volunteers who do this in their spare time and just care about history," said Triscritti. "We started doing this last year and had 4,000 visitors. That was up from around 1,000 visitors the year before."

The Vestival music festival also continues to grow. Once a relatively small community event, it now features multiple stages and books a line-up of top local acts. Robinella headlines the 2018 Vestival on May 12.

Hand-carved "Milani medallion" design at the historic Candoro Marble Company building in South Knoxville.

"We are so excited because the schedules lined up for Robinella to play this year. We have so many other great bands that will be here and it is truly a family-friendly event for adults and children. There's no alcohol," said Triscritti.

LINK: Vestival information at CandoroMarble.org

Ultimately, Triscritti hopes people will grow to know the Candoro Arts and Heritage Center and love it as much as she does.

"You feel it as soon as you step in. You transport to another time. In a way, you appreciate how Knoxville was built and the people who built the foundation," said Triscritti.

While the recent progress has helped save the historic building, it also means the facility can finally have some overdue repairs that will force it to close at the end of this year. Triscritti said it is likely the building will be shut down throughout 2019.

"It is bitter-sweet because we finally have some momentum with people coming to enjoy the building. We hate to think about stopping. But there are a lot of repairs that need to be done in a precise way to meet historic preservation standards," said Triscritti. "That's another reason we really want people to experience this building as much as possible this year."

Credit: WBIR
Candoro Marble Arts and Heritage Center in South Knoxville.

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