CHATTANOOGA, Tenn — The demolition of the historic Chattanooga Car Barn is now underway in downtown Chattanooga to make room for a new hotel. One preservation group is fighting to keep some of the structure still intact.
The Car Barn, located at the northwest corner of Market and East Third Streets, has been a part of the city’s landscape since 1886.
It served as a storage and repair facility for Chattanooga’s public transportation system until the early 1980s, when it was transformed into the Sportsbarn athletic club.
The historic building is being torn down to make way for a new Drury Hotel.
Preserve Chattanooga, the city’s sole historic preservation organization, reached out to Drury Development over two years ago, urging the company to preserve the facades on Market and Broad Streets and incorporate them into the new hotel design…