TN Campuses Grow Despite Recession

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite the recession, college campuses across Middle Tennessee are adding new buildings; but the construction boom would be even bigger if the economy hadn't hit the skids.

According to The Tennessean, at Middle Tennessee State University crews are breaking ground on a $77 million student center and a $29.8 million college of education building. And Vanderbilt, which just completed the first phase of a new health center, is now building a $41 million parking garage.

But Vanderbilt canceled all its planned new construction this year and MTSU has postponed the construction of a new science building.

At the Tennessee Board of Regents, only one project won funding approval this year — an $8.7 million engineering facility at Austin Peay State University. In an average year, the board approves $30 million in construction projects.

"This year has been a very slow year," said Carl Manka, senior director of research and planning.

Most of the projects under construction now were approved and paid for before the current economic downturn.

Tennessee State University is currently building a $3.2 million indoor practice field for its football team, but most of its construction budget this year is going toward projects that repair and improve the buildings it already has.

Other projects have required extra effort and creativity to pull together the funding.

MTSU's new student center will be paid for out of student fees.

At Lipscomb University, the college's strategic plan called for a $1 million-a-month construction budget that brought new dorms, classrooms and other facilities.

"Then the recession came," said Lipscomb spokeswoman Janel Shoun. Nonetheless, the university is about to begin building a $4 million classroom complex to house the art and engineering schools.

"We did put off construction in order for some extra fundraising," Shoun said.

But the recession has also brought big increases in enrollment that necessitate some new facilities.

"During tough economic times, people go back to school," said MTSU spokesman Tom Tozer. The university has grown so quickly in recent years that some programs, including education, were simply scattered about the campus. Finally giving the education school a place of its own, Tozer said, "really is good for morale."

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville is "bursting at the seams," said Christy Bell, the college's director of external relations.

The school will break ground this fall on a project that will expand its main building.

And the new construction can also reassure visitors that a college is prospering.

"When alumni come on campus and see (all the new construction), they get excited," said Lipscomb's Shoun.

___

Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com