Fort Kid

The City recently released its renderings for the new playground at World's Fair Park (see link below). In regard to such renderings, Victor Ashe wrote that "the new structure is no more the old Fort Kid of 1991 than the Parthenon in Athens is the Taj Mahal in Agra, India." We agree with Ambassador Ashe, and believe the name "Fort Kid" should be retired.

Fort Kid was designed, built and financed by hundreds of members of the community and enjoyed by countless children and families for almost 30 years. The new playground – which we hope will be as popular and loved as its predecessor – is not Fort Kid and naming the new area Fort Kid would diminish the memory of our community gem.

Please reach out to your city councilperson and help preserve the legacy of Fort Kid by requesting the City retire the name: https://knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_council/city_council_members

Ashe Article: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/2021/06/07/victor-ashe-column-fort-kid-unique-and-name-should-retired/7525124002/

New Playground Renderings: https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=109562&pageId=209658

Community-built Fort Kid was unique, and its name should not be reused | Victor Ashe Victor Ashe also weighs in on the Republican-led slate of City Council challengers. And, of course, notable birthdays!

Video from WVLT of the City's 100% demolition of Fort Kid:

Fort Kid dismantled For Kid was dismantled.

Fort Kid has fallen.

Tomorrow, April 7, 2020, would have been Fort Kid’s 29th birthday; however, this morning the City of Knoxville began its demolition of Fort Kid. Despite its promise to have a redevelopment plan in place before the bulldozers arrived, despite its promise to incorporate meaningful community input, despite its receipt of multiple unanswered letters pleading for a reprieve, and despite these uncertain times we live in, the City made the demolition of Fort Kid a priority.

In light of Fort Kid’s demolition, the Fort Kid Committee is recovering and will donate the fence, benches, picnic tables, and reusable play equipment installed in 2014 to the Emerald Youth Foundation. We are thankful that these items will continue to benefit children in our community.

For the kids who grew up running through the turreted structures. For the parents who watched their children’s imaginations thrive. For the community that found the good in an urban playground and praised it. For the over 2,500 volunteers, businesses, children and citizens in 1991 who rose to the occasion and made Fort Kid their own. For the countless birthday parties, field trips, blue skies and sunny days. For every smile, laugh, scrape, splinter, yawp, swing, jump, and memory over the past 29 years. For all those who held the Fort. Thank you.

-The Fort Kid Committee

The “public” meeting that the City held on Fort Kid on Thursday March 12 was extremely disappointing. Representatives of the City spent the first thirty minutes justifying why they wanted to demolish Fort Kid. They put up posters of other playgrounds as ideas for a new playground, although the playgrounds shown on the “Vision Boards” would obviously not fit on the space that would be available for a new playground. The City reps kept repeating that the time was very limited, and therefore they could not take many questions. The fact was that the City did not want to take any public questions, but the crowd forced the City reps to answer a few. The City hurriedly terminated the meeting twenty-five minutes early, cutting off questions, although a number of people were raising their hands and asking to be heard.

It is now very clear that Fort Kid will be closed permanently on April 6. Demolition will begin shortly thereafter and should be complete by April 20th. The only things the City plans to retain are the entrance sign and the small metal plaques commemorating donations. All of the current structures will be demolished.

It also came out that the “playground build zone” that may eventually be available after demolition will be approximately 6,000 sq. ft. This is the only level area that will be available for playground use, although there will be a steep (3 to 1) grass slope going down to the street. Currently, the level area available at Fort Kid for structures, play activities and picnic area is almost 78,000 sq. ft. So, the level area that will be available in the future will be less than ten percent (10%) of the current area.

The Fort Kid Committee had hoped to get a reprieve for one more summer of play at Fort Kid. After a meeting with Mayor Kincannon at Fort Kid about 2 weeks ago, we thought that might be possible. At that meeting, the Mayor was open to ideas to save Fort Kid. She may have been influenced by the large number of kids at the playground and the pleas of several parents to save Fort Kid. However, Mayor Kincannon was not at the meeting, and her City staff were adamant about their demolition schedule.

The Fort Kid Committee also hoped that the City would wait until there were funds in hand and some plan for the future before demolition, but that is not the case. Instead, the City admitted that a new playground plan would not be finalized until Fall 2020, well after Fort Kid is demolished. If you think the City is acting in haste, contact the Mayor’s office and your City council-person and make your concerns known.

The Fort Kid Committee was planning to celebrate Fort Kid’s 29th birthday party on April 4, 2020, but, due to the Coronavirus, that plan might change. More on that later. If we can have the party, it may be the last event at Fort Kid and the last chance for anyone to play on Fort Kid as designed and built by the kids and citizens of Knoxville. Unless there is a reprieve, we will dig up the time capsule and lower the flag for the last time at Fort Kid as we know it sometime in the next few weeks.

As of this post, the public meeting on Fort Kid is STILL ON for 5:30pm this evening at the Knoxville Museum of Art. If we receive any update from the City to the contrary, we will post here ASAP. Hope to see you all soon!

REMINDER that the public meeting on Fort Kid is TOMORROW, Thursday March 12 at 5:30pm at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Please attend if you are able; we need YOUR ideas, voice and vision to be represented!

The City has launched a survey to obtain community input on the next iteration of Fort Kid; your memories and opinions matter! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/COK-FortKid.

Fort Kid Community Survey - March 2020 Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

Thank you Paris Woodhull Illustrations for capturing Fort Kid's unique spirit in your illustration - you're a rockstar and Knoxville is lucky to have you! We think this is an awesome way to memorialize Fort Kid after nearly 29 years of existence! If you are interested in a print, they will be available soon on Paris's website: https://pariswoodhull.com/ .

REMINDER: We need EVERYONE who is willing and able to attend the public meeting on Fort Kid on March 12 at 5:30pm at the KMA - let YOUR voice be heard on Fort Kid's future!

This past Sunday, representatives of the Fort Kid Committee (Beth, John and Alexander Waters) met on-site at Fort Kid with Mayor Indya Kincannon, Charles Lomax, Jr. (Knoxville's Director of Community Empowerment), and Councilman Tommy Smith. The Fort Kid Committee appreciated Mayor Kincannon's and her team's willingness to meet, listen, and discuss Fort Kid's past, present and future.

While the Fort Kid Committee remains committed to preserving Fort Kid's original form, we are very encouraged by Mayor Kincannon's commitment to finding a way forward that preserves the spirit of Fort Kid, maximizes the space available for play, ensures safety and accessibility, and encourages community involvement throughout.

We will continue to post updates on this page as they occur; in the meantime, please MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the upcoming public meeting on Fort Kid to be held on Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

YOUR voice, YOUR ideas, and YOUR vision for Fort Kid matter; let your voice be heard on March 12!

-The Fort Kid Committee

The Fort Kid Committee received grave news from the City of Knoxville that the 100% demolition of Fort Kid will commence on or around April 13, 2020. We are attempting to schedule a meeting with Mayor Kincannon to discuss this and – we hope – save Fort Kid.

In light of such news, the Fort Kid Committee will be celebrating the playground’s 29th birthday (and possibly its last) on Saturday April 4, 2020 between 12-2pm at Fort Kid. Additional details will be announced on the Fort Kid page (https://www.facebook.com/FortKid/).

In the meantime, PLEASE SHARE THIS POST.

The full press release from the Fort Kid Committee is below:

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The Fort Kid Committee was disheartened to receive written notice from an attorney in the City of Knoxville Law Department that the 100% demolition of the Fort Kid playground and related improvements will commence on or around April 13, 2020. We are attempting to schedule a meeting with Mayor Kincannon to discuss this and – we hope – save Fort Kid.

Fort Kid is, and has always been, a community-built playground. The historic playground was designed using the public’s ideas, built with community-raised funds, and erected over five days in 1991 by 2,500 volunteers. However, the City’s planned demolition has been driven by a small number of public officials and private interests, without public input or community meetings. The City uses the term “renovation,” but the only definite plans or funding are for demolition of Fort Kid and the retaining wall facing the museum. If a replacement playground is eventually built, it will be on a much smaller area, missing the shade of existing trees and will be constructed of “store-bought” artificial materials. It will not be Fort Kid as currently known and loved.

In light of the news of Fort Kid’s impending destruction, the Fort Kid Committee will be celebrating the playground’s 29th birthday (and possibly its last birthday) on Saturday April 4, 2020 between 12-2pm at Fort Kid. Additional details will be announced on the Fort Kid page (https://www.facebook.com/FortKid/).

Those that are upset by Fort Kid’s demolition are encouraged to call their City councilperson or call Deputy to the Mayor David Brace at 865-215-2060.

ABOUT FORT KID

Fort Kid has been a Knoxville landmark since it was built in 1991. The volunteer construction effort was the biggest in our city’s history, as some 2,500 people built the 12,000-square-foot playground in five days. Situated adjacent to the Knoxville Museum of Art and World’s Fair Park and bordering the Fort Sanders neighborhood, Fort Kid is a popular spot for families. The Fort Kid committee fought Fort Kid’s destruction in 2014, using substantial funds and organizing 175 volunteers to make repairs and add new equipment.

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Below is an article which ran in the Knoxville News Sentinel and other media outlets. Local TV news has also picked up the story, and several people have posted about this on social media. The Fort Kid Committee is, of course, very encouraged that Thomas Boyd and apparently others are willing to step up to provide funds or fundraising efforts for Fort Kid.

However, it is important to note that the City’s plans to demolish Fort Kid have not changed. As per the articles and the City’s broadcast statements, the City intends to do away with all of the wooden structures this fall. The City is insisting on non-wooden fully ADA-compliant structures. Fort Kid is 99% wood! It is true that some of Fort Kid’s structures would not meet new regulations, although most of the playground is accessible to children with special needs. No regulations are being violated, since Fort Kid is “grandfathered” under the regulations that existed at the time it was built.

Our goal and hope remains to postpone Fort Kid’s destruction while we work with Mr. Boyd, the City and any other willing parties to help finance repairs and replacements - when and as that becomes necessary. It is not necessary to demolish Fort Kid now!

A Knoxville businessman and an anonymous donor are stepping up to save Fort Kid With the future of Fort Kid uncertain, Thomas Boyd is donating $200,000 on top of a $100,000 anonymous donation to update the Knoxville playground.

The article in today’s News-Sentinel, "Time to say goodbye to Knoxville’s Original Fort Kid," has left many of us asking, “What is going on? How could this happen?” The community deserves truthful clarifications of the City of Knoxville’s plans.

First off, the City of Knoxville definitely intends to 100% demolish Fort Kid to replace the retaining wall that faces the Museum of Art with a terraced slope. Of the approved $300,000 budget to “renovate Fort Kid,” $50,000 of that figure will be used to completely remove Fort Kid.

Secondly, there are no plans or proposals by the City to replace Fort Kid. The City has suggested the Fort Kid Committee raise from the community $154,000 to purchase a ready-made play structure to be installed AFTER the demolition. There is no money in the City, Parks & Recreation or Public Building Authority budgets for a replacement park being offered. The available area for store-bought play equipment would be much smaller after the land is sloped.

The City has been trying to get rid of Fort Kid for several years. Fort Kid was built by 2500 volunteers in 1991 and was a gift to the City by citizens of the greater Knoxville community. The Fort Kid committee fought Fort Kid’s destruction in 2014, using substantial funds and organizing 175 volunteers to make repairs and add new equipment. The issue was dormant until the City closed Fort Kid in November for six months. We got Fort Kid re-opened, but discussions between the City and the Fort Kid Committee have come to a halt. In the last meeting, a representative said, “If you do raise money for a new play structure, do we have to call it Fort Kid?”

The City doesn’t get it. They do not understand the concept and significance of Fort Kid. They do not understand that children and families continue to play and enjoy Fort Kid daily. Why destroy a vital playground and park that is useful, available, and up-and-running? There is no imminent danger of the retaining wall collapsing; engineering studies bear this out. With all of the talented engineers available, surely the retaining wall could be replaced and Fort Kid could remain in place – IF the City wanted that to happen.

If you are upset by this, call your City councilperson or call Deputy to the Mayor David Brace at 865-215-2060. And SHARE THIS POST!

City Council Members' Contact Info: http://knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_council/city_council_members

We are ready to celebrate, rain or shine! Come stop by Fort Kid for free ice cream and cake!