Market Square Stage Officially Renamed

Communications Director

Kristin Farley
[email protected]
(865) 215-2589

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

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Market Square Stage Officially Renamed

Posted: 12/22/2010
Mayor Bill Haslam announced during a ceremony earlier today that the stage on Market Square will be named The Bill Lyons Pavilion at Market Square.

Lyons has been the city's Senior Director for Policy & Communications since 2003 and his office is responsible for, among many other things, downtown redevelopment. The plaque announcing that the pavilion is named in his honor notes that that it was done in appreciation for his dedicated service to the City of Knoxville.

The announcement came as a surprise to Lyons who thought he was going to lunch on the square with some friends – who were in on what was about to happen.

Instead when he arrived he found the mayor and a large group of friends waiting for him at the pavilion along with a veil-covered sign. 
 
"Of all the things I have done as mayor this is one of the most pleasurable," Haslam told Lyons as he unveiled a replica of the plaque that will be installed on the pavilion announcing that it is named for Lyons.

"Bill has literally never sought one bit of attention for himself, it's always been about others and the city," Haslam said.

Lyons, a University of Tennessee professor, had chaired the Market Square Redevelopment Project's advisory committee and was chairman of Knoxville's Community Development Corporation before he joined city government in 2003.

"This square (as it is today) is a direct result of his service to the city," said KCDC President & CEO Alvin Nance, who worked with Lyons and Haslam, who was a businessman on the advisory committee during that time.

Nance said that Lyons said early on in the Market Square effort, "We're going to do this the right way. We are going to make certain that all the stakeholders are at the table, that everyone has a voice."

Lyons' department is responsible for developing policies that encourage quality economic and residential development in the city and for turning those plans into a reality. It is also responsible for providing timely & accurate information to citizens about the city's activities.

To accomplish those goals Policy & Communications helps guide the administration's activities involving relations with City Council, major capital projects, energy efficiency efforts and redevelopment efforts in addition to eliciting public input about the city's projects and services.

The Parks and Recreation and 311 departments as well as the city's Special Events Office report also report to Lyons.

A measure to name the pavilion was approved by the City of Knoxville's Public Property Naming Committee during a Wednesday morning meeting.