A pair of lane closings will prevent all traffic from entering Henley Street from W. Hill Avenue beginning October 5, due to renovation work on the Mary Boyce Temple House.

The partial lane closings at the intersection of those two streets near the north end of the Henley Street Bridge are permitted through the middle of December. The historic house sits on the corner of W. Hill Ave. and Henley Street.

According to a temporary traffic control permit issued by the City of Knoxville a section of the westbound lane of W. Hill Ave. - which travels toward Henley Street - and part of the right turning lane on Henley Street between the end of the bridge and Main Street will be closed during the project.

The eastbound lane of Hill Avenue, however, will remain open meaning that drivers coming north across the Henley Bridge will still be able to turn east toward the City County Building and downtown.

Both sections will also remain open to pedestrians, however pedestrians on the Henley Street side of the house will be moving through a protected corridor located on the closed turning lane there instead of the sidewalk.

Drivers traveling west on Hill Ave. to access Henley Street can turn right (north) on Walnut Street and then left (west) on Cumberland Avenue which will carry them to Henley Street.

Knoxville resident Brian Pittman bought the house - which had fallen into disrepair - in 2006 and is restoring the 5,000-square-foot home to its original condition. The house was built in 1907 and is named for Mary Boyce Temple, a preservationist, suffragette and philanthropist, who lived in it.

The house was targeted for demolition as part of the development of the Hampton Inn & Suites but the City of Knoxville, Hampton Inn developer Shailesh Patel, Knox Heritage and neighboring property owners worked together to develop a plan that ultimately saved the house.