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A great community newspaper
VOL. 6 NO. 10
March 5, 2012
Tough times …
IN THIS ISSUE
take out landmark business
Shatner’s World!
New York and back, driving, in 50 hours? That was no problem for Jake Mabe and his buddy Matt Shelton, who pulled off a whirlwind trip to Manhattan to see William Shatner on Broadway.
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See Jake’s story on page A-6
Coffee break Of course, you have to ask: Do you play? “No musical ability at all,” says Greg Scribner, manager of the American Piano Gallery in Turkey Creek. “What I do Scribner have is experience in business management and sales, an appreciation for the science and art that goes into making Steinway pianos, and a product that pretty much sells itself.”
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Gas is no longer flowing out of the pumps at the Mr. Zip Phillips 66 station at the corner of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road. The station is almost an institution at that corner in Farragut, dating back to at least 1970. Declining sales were given for the closure and sale of the property. Photo by S.F. Neal
By Suzanne Foree Neal
See Coffee Break on page A-2
An institution in Farragut has closed its doors and shut off the gas pumps. The Mr. Zip Phillips 66 station No. 542 at the corner of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road has been a landmark in the town since at least 1970. Jody Townes, district manager for Mr. Zip, said closing the station was not a “snap decision.” The company is aware of the iconic status of the station in Farragut, but he says a decision had to be made. “It was part economy, part bigbox stores that got into the gas business,” he says about the station’s closure. “It just wasn’t sufficient to remain open. The station has been in declining sales since Kroger reopened with gas and Ingles put in gas.” The station was opened as a Conoco-Phillips property, but a call to corporate offices to find the opening date was a lost cause. The station has been around longer than the switch from paper to computer records in 1989. A corporate customer service representative tried, but couldn’t find any information except for the sixdigit station number. J.A. and Barbara Beeler moved from Knox-
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Concert for Channon, Chris Southbound Band will play a benefit concert in memory of Chris Newsom and Channon Christian on Friday, March 9, at The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson in Maryville. Cost is $10 per person and all proceeds go to the Channon and Chris Memorial Fund, which benefits the Newsom and Christian families. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert is from 8-10.
Index Coffee Break Sherri Gardner Howell Government/Politics Town of Farragut Jake Mabe’s feature Faith Schools Community Calendar Business Health/Lifestyles
A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A9-10 A11 A12 Sect B
By Suzanne Foree Neal Once upon a time, there was a brick sign announcing that the building down the hill was Farragut Primary School. There was attractive landscaping and a light pole. Then those three items disappeared until they showed up on a “wish list” of things the school needed when asked by the Farragut/Knox County Schools Joint Education Relations Committee. Committee chair Mark Littleton was a little perplexed by the request and turned detective. Since the Tennessee Department of Transportation had removed those items as part of the Campbell Station Road improvement project, why hadn’t they been replaced? TDOT would have had to pay someone for them, he thought. When TDOT widened that sec-
news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Sandra Clark sclark426@aol.com.com ADVERTISING SALES Jim Brannon brannonj@ShopperNewsNow.com Debbie Moss mossd@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 10512 Lexington Drive, Suite 500, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 33,237 homes in Farragut, Karns and Hardin Valley.
tion of Campbell Station Road in front of the school, the brick sign, landscaping and a light pole were in the way of progress. The extra easement was needed for a work area and erosion controls outside of the proposed right-of-way line. All parties involved agreed to a final court order setting the value of the lost property. Littleton found that indeed TDOT had paid for those items, but it was unclear exactly where the funds were now, and why those items hadn’t been replaced. A call to Chris Caldwell, accounting and budget director with Knox County government, resulted in records that showed a TDOT check deposited with the Clerk of Knox County Circuit Court in the amount of $37,625 on June 19, 2009. The funds were deposited
ers and weed cutters. He says they’re talking to a couple of gas companies to get cards that can be used in several locations. “I started working in ’87 for the town and that’s where we’ve bought fuel for town vehicles ever since,” he said. Linda Ford is a Farragut native and was shocked to hear that the station had closed. “That has been there for so long,” she says. “I can’t remember when it wasn’t there.” Upon hearing that big-box store competition contributed to the decision to close, she says, “That’s what happens; big boxes take over the little boxes. That’s sad.”
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we are working through that process currently with our finance, maintenance and facilities departments.” “I’m happy it’s resolved and that it’s in process,” says Craze. “I’ve had nothing to identify my school for three years. I’m pleased we’ve got the ball rolling and those things will be done.” Craze wishes the school system could give her a timeline, but also understands the amount of money may require that bids be let for the work. While she would love to see everything back in place by the end of this school year, she thinks it’s more likely the work will be done over summer break. “Those will come off my wish list,” she says. “They have been a high priority for me for safety reasons and also for the community to know that this was the school building.”
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into the Knox County Depository Account for Knox County Schools. That seems to be where they have been lingering during the construction project and beyond. According to Chelsey Riemann, public relations coordinator for Farragut, the project was finished in late November of 2010 and marked by the town with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It’s been about 15 months since that road project was completed, but still no sign, landscaping and light pole. The fact that Littleton tracked the money to the school system was news to principal Julia Craze, who had heard nothing about those items being replaced. Melissa Copelan, Knox County Schools spokesperson, says, “We do have those funds. While we do not have an estimated completion date,
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No, the gas isn’t free; it’s just gone. The Mr. Zip Phillips 66 station at the corner of Kingston Pike and Campbell Station Road in Farragut ceased operations recently without notice. That caught many customers and even Farragut officials by surprise.
Principal’s wishes fulfilled by TDOT funds
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ville to Farragut in 1966 and say they don’t believe the station was there then, but ever since it opened, that’s where they bought their gas for their vehicles as well as farm equipment. “It just closed overnight,” Barbara Beeler said. “It was open one day and closed the next. Talk about surprise! My husband said he just got gas there. I thought we were going to have to take him there and show him it was closed.” There was a time when it was just about the only gas station in town. In fact, there wasn’t much else around it except for a couple of nearby strip shopping centers. If you were giving someone directions, you had as references the A&P at Lovell Road, Farragut Cleaners on one side of the Pike and the Farragut schools on the other at Concord Road and the 66 station at Campbell Station Road. One of the station’s biggest customers caught as much off guard as everyone else by the closing is the town of Farragut. Bud McKelvey, public works director, says the town’s gasoline budget for the year is nearly $50,000. Employees had Phillips 66 gas cards to fill the tanks of everything from cars and trucks to lawn mow-
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