South Knoxville has room for a 'statement piece' along the river, but what should it be?

The South Knoxville waterfront and nearby neighborhoods don't need a pedestrian bridge for growth. Substantial changes have been happening for years already.

Sevier Avenue has become a retail destination for a growing number of residents and for anyone who loves beer and the great outdoors. Blount Avenue is adding residents, as well, and is anchored by the Regal headquarters.

East Tennessee Realtors recently called upon consultants to identify growth opportunities along the water, and their findings include a "statement piece" just east of the Gay Street bridge.

Downtown reporter Ryan Wilusz and visual journalist Brianna Paciorka recently discussed what a statement piece could look like, including their ideas for a museum showcasing the Southeastern Conference and an outdoor adventure park bridging downtown with the Urban Wilderness.

Below, you'll find an edited transcript of their discussion on "The Scruffy Stuff," an award-winning Knox News podcast about downtown Knoxville. This episode is available in its entirety through the podcast player, below.

Want to keep up with "The Scruffy Stuff"? Episodes come out each Tuesday and are free on Apple, Spotify and other streaming platforms.

An SEC museum honoring college sports

Brianna: There's a lot of Pride that comes with being a Southeastern Conference school. And also there is a marker on the Farragut Hotel that says that this is where the SEC was founded.

Ryan: The Farragut hotel now being the Hyatt Place in downtown Knoxville.

Brianna: What would be really cool is to have an SEC museum that not just focuses on college football. ... The SEC has a really storied history in all sports. It's not just football. It's basketball, it's baseball, it's softball. It's literally almost every sport. ... You could have interactive playing fields and interactive exhibits. You could have photo opportunities. It's something that I think locals would really like just because there's such a love for Tennessee sports, but also anyone who comes to town to see a sporting event.

Ryan: There is an ACC hall of fame at the Greensboro Coliseum ... so it makes total sense for there to be something equivalent for the SEC. It's kind of similar to what they did with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, right? It has local interest because there is that Tennessee connection, but it is broader like you said to anybody who comes through town.

Professional wrestling museum with Knoxville ties

Ryan: I mentioned the Greensboro Coliseum just a moment ago. Recently, I was at the Greensboro Coliseum for a professional wrestling event. ... I think if there is one place for a professional wrestling museum, it is in the state of Tennessee. Now, some people would argue Memphis. ... But with our current mayor being a WWE wrestler, with Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the history of independent wrestling territories here ... and not to mention that Smoky Mountain Wrestling was ran by Jim Cornette, who is an avid collector ... And on top of that, Tom Prichard. ... I've got a story about him over at knoxnews.com being based in Knoxville and being a trainer for some of the biggest WWE superstars now and of the past. I think there's a lot of interest and a lot of connections that you could say, "Hey, Knoxville makes sense for a museum of this type."

Expanding the current Knoxville history museum

Brianna: No hate on the current (Museum of East Tennessee History), but I feel like there's a lot of really cool history here in East Tennessee. And I think that so much more can be done as a museum than what's already being done. ... The first thing that you see when you go in (the current museum) is that trolley car, and then you have that old-time pharmacy. I want to see more exhibits like that − more things that you can interact with. There's a whole section on country music. Expand on that more. ... It would also be cool if somehow they could recreate some World's Fair exhibits or architecture or something.

Ryan: When you talked about the SEC museum earlier, Neyland Stadium could be visible from that. If you had this museum, I believe the Sunsphere would be visible from down there on that property too.

Brianna: Yeah, depending on how it's built.

Ryan: I had two ideas here on the list I thought about maybe mentioning. ... A Cradle of Country museum and a trolley museum with our trolley history here. I like your idea much better. Let's put all that history into one museum.

Concerts, outdoor activities along Knoxville's river

Ryan: My other suggestion is going to be a kayaking, white-water-type center. ... I have been to the (U.S. National Whitewater Center) in Charlotte a few times, and so something like this already exists where it's man-made rapids where you go through, get a day pass. There's ziplining, there's rock climbing. ... Even though our Urban Wilderness is super close to downtown, you don't really see it until you get out of downtown. So maybe something that bridges the gap there between the great outdoors and the great urban landscape of downtown Knoxville. I encourage you to look at the Whitewater Center if you've never heard of it. It's really cool, and they host a lot of concerts and stuff out there too.

Brianna: Nashville has Ascend Amphitheater. It's not necessarily a museum statement piece, but I believe it's on the river downtown. They host all these big concerts. It would be really cool to have something like that here in Knoxville, and that could possibly be a cool space for that. It's easily walkable downtown. It would probably bring a better, bigger concert space to bring in some people who might be bigger than the Tennessee Theatre but not quite big enough for Thompson-Boling.

One more big idea: The World's Largest Museum

Ryan: I had an idea for the World's Largest Museum. Now, the museum wouldn't be the world's largest. It would showcase world's largest things. And I got to thinking about this because I believe we have the world's largest basketball at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame if that's considered a real basketball. We have the world's largest Rubik's Cube that was gifted to use for the World's Fair. I got to thinking, "What says 'statement piece' more than something large, something in your face, something like the World's Largest Museum?"

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified who acquired consulting services for the South Waterfront report. East Tennessee Realtors was selected through an application process to receive help from the consultants, and the city signed on as a co-client.

Ryan Wilusz is a downtown growth and development reporter. Phone 865-317-5138. Email ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com. Instagram @knoxscruff. 

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Could South Knoxville 'statement piece' be a waterfront museum?