Blog: Safety Complex Updates

Week 47: Masons Repair Parapet Atop 1929 Building

More TLC continues to be given to the beloved 1929 Building, the original marble-accented St. Mary's Hospital building in North Knoxville that's being preserved by the City. The restoration of the 92-year-old landmark is part of the City's conversion of the vacated hospital campus into a new Public Safety Complex.

This week, G&P Masonry repaired the parapet at the top of west side of the 1929 Building. The parapet adorns the building's fourth floor, which wasn't constructed until the 1940s. (According to popular legend, adding the upper floor had to be put on hold for more than a decade, because the hospital opened at the onset of the Great Depression, and some pledges of donations in 1929 couldn't be made for awhile.)

Cutline: G&P Masonry crews are painstakingly repairing the parapet on the west side of the 1929 Building.

Rather than just buttressing the damaged parapet, the repair was done in a way that will last - and with historic preservation in mind. The old bricks were saved and the old mortar cleaned off. The masons then selected new mortar that matches the color of the old mortar as the original bricks were affixed back in place.

In other work underway this week at the site, Renascent crews are continuing to process and remove debris. But they're also beginning work to remove an old foundation wall, in specific locations around the campus, in preparation of a new foundation wall being installed by Al Blankenship Enterprises.

The new foundation wall is going in at the Central Wing Annex, where the below-grade levels of the Central Wing have been demolished, leaving an opening. The new wall will be waterproofed and backfilled when complete.

Meanwhile, here are some interesting photos that attest to the progress being made inside and atop the Professional Office Building, which is being repurposed to house Knoxville Police Department operations in the future.

Below is what the cooling towers on the roof of the Professional Office Building looked like last year:

Here's what the cooling towers atop the Professional Office Building looked like last year.

Here's what the cooling towers atop the Professional Office Building looked like last year.

And here (below) is how the top of the Professional Office Building now looks:

Here's how the top of the Professional Office Building now looks.

Similarly, here are "before" and "after" photos, showing the cleaning out of old mechanical equipment from the top floor of the Professional Office Building:

Professional Office Building top floor - "before" photo

Professional Office Building top floor - "before" photo

Professional Office Building - what the top floor now looks like

Posted by evreeland On 15 January, 2021 at 9:41 AM