Tennessee Tech will prioritize a new $108 million Life Science Building in its request for capital funds from the state next year.
Tech President Phil Oldham said the Biology Department currently residents in Pennebaker Hall. Oldham said it ranks as one of the largest academic departments on campus.
“It’s in desperate need of renovation and new space and modernization,” Oldham said. “Quite honestly, the laboratory facilities are terribly inadequate. The Laboratory Science Commons building was never designed to accommodate all of that. So we also have a lot of need to modernize life sciences in general on campus that includes multiple disciplines. And so this is an opportunity to do that.”
Tech will also ask for a new Social Sciences Building. Oldham said that represents an opportunity for growth for the University.
“These are for the social science discipline, psychology, sociology, social work, for the most part, not totally, but for the most part non laboratory type disciplines,” Oldham said. “And so it’s a totally different kind of design in a facility. And to have the appropriate forward looking facilities is really important to be able to move forward with some of those plans as well.”
Tech must pay for about $8 million on each building, with one-third of that coming from private sources. Tech Vice President For Planning And Finance Claire Stinson said Tech ranked both projects as workforce development priorities.
“Both of these projects are high priorities,” Oldham said. “We need to do both of them as quickly as possible.”
Tech will also for additional funding for capital maintenance. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission asking for a total of $358 million over the normal allocation next year. Tech would receive some $18 million.
“It would help us with a lot of problems that we have on campus, but all we can do is submit it and ask for it,” Stinson said.
