KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Planned Parenthood could have a new permanent clinic in Knoxville as soon as September 2024. Its leaders unveiled the design, as well as a temporary solution, on Wednesday.
"We're coming a long way from not having anything here in Knoxville, in terms of an in-person option," said Ashley Coffield, the Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO. "It's been extremely hard, so we are thrilled to be back."
Authorities said 64-year-old Mark Reno of Jefferson City intentionally set fire to the Knoxville Planned Parenthood Clinic on New Year's Eve 2021. Planned Parenthood said it had spent more than $2 million renovating the building up until that point. All the work went up in flames, and the building was a total loss after the arson.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Reno "engaged in a series of violent acts of property destruction" starting in early 2021 when he shot an "incendiary projectile" from a shotgun into the entrance of the clinic on the 48th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
He died while in jail custody in August 2022, according to authorities.
"Extremists and lawmakers in our state continue to try to do everything they can to close our doors and to stop an organization that has always stood on the front lines of bodily autonomy and access to all kinds of sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion care," Coffield said. "They don't want us around, but we're coming back. We're not stopping."
On Wednesday, she and other Planned Parenthood leaders unveiled a mobile health unit that will provide in-person care for the next year and a half as they construct a new clinic.
"These are the Planned Parenthood services that people in Knoxville have always counted on — birth control, STI testing and treatment, well-person care, gender-affirming care," Coffield said. "We're back providing those in person for the folks in East Tennessee."
The mobile health unit will operate at the existing Planned Parenthood location for about a month, before moving to the Messiah Lutheran Church off Kingston Pike once construction begins. It has two exam rooms and a small waiting room.
"We're looking at September of 2024, so it won't be that long," Coffield said. "In the meantime, this is a really great, safe, secure, high-quality healthcare option."
The City of Knoxville helped make the short-term and long-term solutions possible.
"Whether it's through planning, through safety measures, making sure that resources are aligned so that they can continue to operate here — the city is just excited and happy to be a part of that work," Chief Community Safety Officer Lakenya Middlebrook said. "Having access to affirming health care services for everyone is a critical aspect of having a thriving community and so it means so much to us to have them back here."