A number of trees have recently been cut down in front of the old University Center at UT
photo by John Shearer
Not much is left of old Ellis and Ernest Friendship Walk at UT
photo by John Shearer
Old Ellis and Ernest drugstore and other buildings that sat in front of University Center by the Hill at UT
photo by UT Libraries
The University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville has been undergoing some brick-and-mortar changes in recent months, but it recently bid farewell to some old arboreal landmarks as well.
A number of the trees that had sat in front of the University Center for several decades have been cut down in recent days. It is part of the demolition efforts that have also begun to raze the UC to make way for Phase II of the new UT Student Union.
With the pending completion of Phase I of the Student Union, the University Center was closed to the students and public in May, and interior demolition began along with some exterior clearing.
In the tree-clearing project, only about two trees are being preserved for future landscaping.
The trees date to not long after the University Center, which was originally built in the mid-1950s, was expanded in the 1960s. In connection with that phase, the old Ellis and Ernest Drugstore that fronted Cumberland Avenue was torn down.
The drugstore was opened by college friends Wilbur Ellis and Harold Ernest in 1926, and for years its soda fountain was a popular hangout. Ice cream was among its specialties.
After it was torn down, the park-like Ellis and Ernest Friendship Walk was constructed by the university with trees and a winding sidewalk.
In recent years the walk had provided an aesthetic front to that block of campus, but now it temporarily looks like it was hit by a tornado as the site is cleared to make way for Phase II of the Student Union.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net