Alcoa Highway has become synonymous with patience – or maybe impatience. As the Tennessee Department of Transportation construction that began in 2016 continues along the highway, vacant buildings sitting alongside the roadwork add to the perpetually-unfished feel.
All along Alcoa Highway and frontage roads Lakemoor View and Dresser roads, buildings where National Fitness and Pilot once operated now stand empty. Reader Vicki Howard asked whether anything is planned for the vacant buildings just north of Maloney Road, but the answer to her question paints an unclear picture for the future.
No zoning cases or construction projects are scheduled for the area, Knoxville-Knox County Planning spokesperson Ally Ketron said in an email. For now, the empty
buildings along the highway just remain a blast from the past.
County leaders have considered what development across the county, including along Alcoa Highway, should look like.
In 2024, Knox County adopted Advance Knox, a roadmap to guide growth in Knox County over the next two decades. Various studies helped inform the plan, including the 2022Alcoa Highway Corridor Study.
The Alcoa study called for unified development standards to make the neighborhood more recognizable, improvements to pedestrian accessibility, giving businesses incentives to to move in and expanding mixed-used zoning.
Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What's happening with those empty buildings along Alcoa Highway?
