News
Eastern Eight celebrates completion of new office
May 31, 2011
Nonprofit housing organization Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation will celebrate the restoration of its new office Friday, June 3rd, the historic E. Munsey Slack House at 214 E. Watauga Ave. in Johnson City.
Festivities begin at 1 p.m., with tours of the home and light refreshments. At 3 p.m. Eastern Eight Executive Director Retha Patton will be joined by representatives from the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises, Rep. Phil Roe’s office, Johnson City and several others. Tours of the home will then continue until 5 p.m.
Eastern Eight builds about 40 homes a year for low to moderately-low income families. The nonprofit also maintains more than 80 rental units across Northeast Tennessee, and offers housing-related services such as homebuyer education, credit counseling and foreclosure intervention counseling. Eastern Eight moved from their old office on Unaka Ave., a smaller house that was unable to accommodate the growing organization.
Patton is excited to show off the hard work that’s been put into the new office. “We bought the property in early 2010,” she said. “At that time it was a six-unit apartment building. We’ve spent a lot of time renovating and restoring the house to its former state – Friday will be a great day to not only catch up with Eastern Eight, but to tour an important piece of Johnson City’s history as well.”
The house was built in 1905 for E. Munsey Slack, an important figure in the history of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, according to Eastern Eight Program Coordinator Josh McKinney. “Slack was the son of Tennessee Senator John Slack, a newspaper man himself and the founder of the Bristol Courier,” McKinney said.” “Munsey Slack followed in his father’s footsteps and served as the editor of the Courier, later purchasing the Abingdon Virginian. He came to Johnson City and built the home when he purchased the Johnson City Staff, a precursor to the Johnson City Press.
“Slack was a founding member of the Johnson City Kiwanis – he was actually the club’s first secretary. He was a very active member of the community during his 15 or so years living in Johnson City.”
There are reports that the home was used as housing for nursing students and was even a funeral home at one time, McKinney said, but those reports are unconfirmed. “There’s a period of 40 to 50 years where we’re not sure what was going on in the house,” he said. “Regardless, the house is an important historic site for our city. I think people will really be surprised by the beauty of the place.”
From restoring the interior to its original state to removing and replacing its iconic white columns, the rehab of 214 E. Watauga has been a labor of love, according to Patton. “We really could have moved anywhere – an office building would have probably been easier and a lot less trouble,” she said. “But Johnson City has some beautiful, very historic homes that are falling into disrepair, which I hate to see. Our mission is to create affordable homes and rescue endangered communities – saving this home and preserving its history falls very much in line with what we’re all about, and gives us a special place to call home as well.”
The open house is open to the public. For more information on the event or Eastern Eight’s services, call 423-232-2057 or email Amy at .
