Built 1929 Opened 1929 Added to NRHP 17 November 1983 | NRHP Reference # 83004256 Architecture firm BarberMcMurry | |
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Location 605 Clinch Ave.
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Similar Great Smoky Mountains, Gay Street, Tennessee Theatre, Bijou Theatre, Market Square - Knoxville | ||
The Knoxville Downtown YMCA, also known as the Lindsay Young Downtown YMCA, is a building in Knoxville, Tennessee, that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by the Barber & McMurry architecture firm. Completed in 1929, it is the third oldest YMCA facility in the United States.
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History
The Knoxville YMCA was organized by the Second Presbyterian Church in 1854, disbanded during the Civil War, and reinstated in 1890. The property was originally owned by the McGhee family and was deeded to the YMCA on 28 June 1928. The Knoxville Downtown YMCA was built in 1929.
The building was later renamed in honor of Lindsay Young, local attorney and philanthropist who was a major donor to the Knoxville YMCA.
On 25 April 2008, a comprehensive renovation was completed to the property at a cost of approximately $2.5 million, including the conversion and sale of former hotel rooms into condominium residences. The proceeds of the sale of the condominiums and private donations were used to fund the renovations.
Design
The interior of the building furnishings and layout are consistent with Spanish Colonial Revival design, featuring arched porticoes, tile flooring, diamond muntined windows, and plaster-covered walls. Knox Heritage describes the building as a combination of architectural revival styles, a strength of its designer Charles I. Barber, but classifies the building as a whole as Mediterranean Revival, with more significant design features of "brick laid in Flemish bond, the water table, corbelled string course, and interior courtyard and fourth-story loggias."
YMCA facility
The YMCA facility is equipped with an indoor running track, lap pool, basketball court, racketball and handball courts, locker rooms for men and women, saunas and steam rooms, exercise studios, and a variety of exercise equipment.