Historic landmark gets financial boost
by Lola Alapo
Reprinted here with the premission of the The Knoxville News Sentinel Company

An organization committed to restoring the historic Powell Airplane Refilling Station on Wennesday received a $15,000 endowment from Knox County.
County Mayor Mike Ragsdale presented the check to members of the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association.
"We can now give the old gal a facelift," said association President Tom MIlligan. "She's long overdue, and it's about time."
The gift brings to $25,000 the total amount the association has raised, said Kim Trent, president of Knox Heritage, the organization's fiscal agent.
The preservation association has purchased the structure and insurance and is now in the process of refurbishing it, she said.
"We're happy because they have control of the site," Trent said.
"It's such a unique part of Knoxville, and it's part of a disapearing type of architecture." The brothers, Elmer and Henry Nickle, in 1930 built the whimsical structure. They wanted to catch the eye of southbound travelers on what was then called Dixie Highway. The airplane shaped building came complete with propeller and wings.

The roadside attractionhas since fallen into disrepair.
Milligan said the airplane refilling station is part of his childhood memories.
"I played around it when I was 5 or 6 years old," said Milligan who is now 64.
He wanted it to be there for his grandchildren, "so I started a movement to get it fixed," he said. "We just did'nt want to see it go down. It would have been a shame to lose it."
Last year it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The assocation secured money through fund-raisers and selling T-shirts, Trent said. It also has received donations from residents in other states- from as far away as Maine and California she said.
"People who dont even live here appreciate the style of architecture," Trent said.
The next phase will to apply for grant money for the restoration, she said.
The renovated structure will be a place that shows the history of the airplane, Trent said.
The association also wants to rent it to the Beaver Creek Watershed Association as an office, which will garner rent and sustain the preservation, she said.