May 15, 2006    
JELLICO NEWS / MAYOR'S COLUMN

With less than six (6) months to go on our present terms as mayor and members of council, we all simply cannot help but be proud when we look at our downtown now and recall what it looked like when I first assumed the office of mayor eight (8) years ago. At that time I had the late James Edward Branam to make some photos for me including some that I still retain. Back then we had two totally collapsed buildings, boarded up building fronts, several trees growing inside one gutted out building and with a tree growing on the roof of another - along with a lot of other unpainted and deteriorating eye sore buildings. I occasionally look at those photos just to keep in mind my hopes back then that someday our town would eventually look much better - if I showed the leadership as mayor that was required to accomplish what needed to be done to restore it.

At that time we announced some major objectives that we had for Jellico that included first solving the huge and critical problem that we faced in dealing with both water purification and especially waste water treatment. Failure to take corrective action by an established date could and would have resulted in some very large fines against our town for prolonged non-compliance with health and environmental regulations. With an awful lot of hard work and cooperation on the part of the funding agencies, utilities department, mayor/city council and our citizens we were able to solve those problems and now are in very good shape in both respects. Although we still must reduce inflow of surface water and complete the rehabilitation of some sewer lines, corrective action progresses and we no longer have to fear an outbreak of disease from untreated sewage spreading out around the area of the baseball and softball fields as it once was, or entering and contaminating the waters of Elk Creek that occurred over a period of several years.

We also made renovating and revitalizing our downtown priority goals. With the beautiful surroundings that we have, we felt that there was no reason that we could not have one of the prettiest small towns anywhere if we were willing to do what was required to make it so.

But even more importantly, we cited working to develop an attitude among all of our citizens that we could improve our town on our own initiative. The latter may have been the most difficult task of all. We always had those who maintained their property in great shape and now more of our citizens have gained a new perspective on what can be accomplished and have joined in the efforts. (One man told me that if others had not begun taking action that he probably would not have done so either since having a restored building among deteriorated buildings didn't really help the looks of our town or increase property values. And I will never forget the man who early on told me that he thought we were probably wasting our time and that downtown Jellico in all probability had been let go too far to ever come back!. As I wrote once before, that same individual talked to me a couple of years ago and admitted that he had been wrong.)

It certainly hasn't happened over night; has required the efforts of an awful lot of folks; and is not complete. But few if any can deny that we are making progress. As I mentioned last week, the completion of the renovation of the buildings in the center of town by the Bucks and the great restoration being performed on the Coca-Cola plant by the Johnny Baird family will bring us much closer to completing the renovation of our downtown. (One fellow who now lives in Jellico but used to visit here often as a young man, told me recently that the old Coca-Cola plant in Jellico was comparable to the Sun Sphere in Knoxville as a landmark. When asked for directions to somewhere in Jellico, the first question asked of the inquirer was, "Do you know where the Coca-Cola plant is?" before giving directions to where ever the inquirer wanted to go.

We have lost so many of our area's historic homes and buildings that it saddens those of us who are interested in our town's history and traditions, e.g. the old railroad passenger depot, the old city hall, the house used as a Civil War hospital, the Grace Moore home, the original Tramell Building that contained the Jellico Telephone Company, and many, many others. But the Coca-Cola building is now going to be standing for years to come and attract the interest of an awful lot of folks. We sure appreciate the efforts the Bairds have made to save and restore it.

Just as important as renovating our town was its revitalization. A former city worker on the then night shift when I took office told me that a person could have fired a canon from the central traffic signal down the center of North Main Street any Friday night by 9:00 PM with absolutely no fear of striking anyone or anything - so dead was our downtown even on weekends.

In constructing the new city (Tramell) building in the center of town, some of us insisted upon having a Community Conference Room and that facility is now in almost constant use. We moved both the Office of Tourism and Library there as well and all three attract folks to the center of town. We also needed an outdoor area where folks could gather, socialize and be entertained and thankfully the W.H. Bowlin family was willing to construct us a stage in Veterans Park for that purpose. And the stage has certainly served the purpose for which it was intended.

After Jake Bennett was hired by the city council to serve as Director of Tourism, he and the Tourism Commission immediately began looking for new ideas to attract folks back downtown and his Fall Fest is now receiving state and even national recognition with attendance increasing. The "Monday Night Jammers" bring folks in that night each week as do numerous events spread throughout the year. The rockcrawlers and other groups fill our town on occasion and businesses including some that have located in our downtown within that eight years, stay open into the evening which further helps to liven up the area.. Things are on the upswing and before cold weather, we need to have us another "Downtown Night" to celebrate our progress - just as we did that first summer eight years ago when we first kicked off the drive to renovate and revitalize.

The weather cooperated for Alla Faye Rutherford and her annual May Day on Saturday at Indian Mountain State Park. The number of participants was down this year but the level of fun was up greatly. (However yours truly left a little miffed that I wasn't given a trophy for not finishing last in the dash or for not having to call 911 at its conclusion.)

We appreciate May Day and all of the events that Alla Faye conducts assisted by the Park staff. Such activities give our young people fond memories of their growing up years that will last them for a lifetime - not to even mention the health and recreational benefits they provide.