John Sevier Center residents' move delayed again over ADA concerns

The Johnson City Board of Commissioners heard of a delay in the moving of the residents of the John Sevier Center at Thursday's meeting. In addition, they voted to extend an agreement to let East Tennessee State University use the Freedom Hall for men's basketball for another 10 years. The agreement also gives the university naming rights for the arena's inner bowl area. John Sevier Center update The moving of residents of the John Sevier Center has been delayed to make sure Americans with Disabilities Act signs are in place at the new Tapestry at Roan Hill building, according to Tallal Shakarchi, vice president of development with building owners LHP. "We are hoping to move the residents prior to Christmas," Shakarchi said, saying they were doing "the best [they] can." The move was previously delayed from late September due to a need to fix the elevators in the new building. Shakarchi said the new building will have 104 apartments, all one bedroom. He told commissioners that all the apartments will be filled once they finish moving all the residents. He called the new apartments "significantly nicer" than the ones they inhabited at the John Sevier Center. Commissioner Joe Wise said the project had been "one steps forward, two steps back" and said he was glad "to be at this point where you can see the imminent future." "The quality housing is so large an improvement," he said. "LHP is a very good partner through this project. Managing a 100-year-old building is hard on the best of days. To see it come to this is really a wonderful outcome, not one that's a foregone conclusion necessarily." Vice Mayor Jenny Brock recalled taking a tour of the building, which she said had been "just wonderful." "I can't imagine what it's going to be like when residents move in," she said. "I'm really looking forward to them getting settled in. The interior space and courtyard will be such a great outdoor experience for them." The John Sevier Center has served as low-income housing since the 1970s. The City of Johnson City recently selected Concord, North Carolina-based developer Lansing Melbourne Group to handle renovating the building into a luxury hotel, as it originally was in the 1920s. It will also include new retail and dining space. Freedom Hall and ETSU The board voted unanimously to approve an item on the consent agenda to extend the agreement with ETSU to use the Freedom Hall for men's basketball for the next 10 years. The new agreement also gives the university naming rights for the inner bowl in the venue. ETSU has used the space for its men's basketball home games already since 2014. The university will be able to sell naming rights for the inner bowl area for the entire 10 years of the contract. ETSU will keep all the proceeds from selling the naming rights to the inner bowl. According to city documents on the item, the funds raised by ETSU by selling the naming rights will be used to upgrade video boards and the audio tech for the arena, which will cost around $1.6 million. ETSU will pay $2,500 for each game in the 2025-26 season, and the fee will increase 4% every year afterward until 2035 when the contract expires. The city will retain the naming rights for the outside of the building.