• The purpose of this petition is to demonstrate to the Historic Zoning Commission and City Council the public's support for making the CSAS building (Wyatt Hall) a Local Historic Landmark.
• The Historic Zoning Commission will hear this case on July 20th at 9:30 am in conference room 1 at the Development Resource Center, 1201 King St 37403. The building faces Market St (across from Kenny's).
• If passed, having Landmark status would provide the same protection that our historic neighborhoods have, meaning that the Historic Zoning Commission would have final approval for any construction, demolition, or alteration to the building.
• If you want to see this building protected regardless of current or future ownership, please sign the petition and share with your friends to make our impact as big as possible!
• Keep reading for in-depth information on the process, and history of the building.

Originally called Wyatt Hall, our beloved and historic building at 865 East 3rd Street is facing a possible threat. Under some of the proposed restructuring actions recommended by MGT, the consulting firm hired by HCDE to come up with a plan to mitigate spiraling deferred maintenance costs in our school system, the current CSAS site could be sold and the students relocated to another facility. We all know the value of the 3rd Street site to developers, UTC, and Erlanger, and we want to protect this beautiful building we have called home for over 30 years. Contrary to popular belief, being on the National Register of Historic Places provides little to no actual protection for this or any property. 

This targeted preservation method, brand new for Chattanooga, would reside in the designation of CSAS as Local Historic Landmark. This designation would provide our building with the same protection that our historic neighborhoods (Fort Wood, St. Elmo, Battery Place and Ferger Place) currently have, which is that any demolition or exterior construction project on site must first be reviewed and approved by the Historic Zoning Commission. This does not mean that construction or alterations would be halted or even made difficult, it just means that the proposed changes would be reviewed by a team of people who are educated in preservation, and that any action taken would be in the best interest of the building. The Local Landmark application has been submitted, and will heard at the July 20th, 2023 Historic Zoning Commission meeting. 

Please sign this petition so that we can show the Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission that the community wants this National Register school building designed by R.H. Hunt to be preserved, whether it remains the home of CSAS, or is sold to a private party. We need a show of overwhelming support! I think we can all agree that whatever solutions come to fruition with the HCDE plan, the building at 865 East 3rd deserves to live on for at least another hundred years!

"You may be skeptical about the efficacy of your own involvement in political affairs. But you cannot love your country and at the same time be indifferent about the future of its free institutions."

Mortimer J. Adler, The Paideia Proposal

Thank you for supporting CSAS, and PLEASE SHARE!

Rachel Hunt Shannon, class of 1997