The top photo above shows the exterior of Tusculum College's new Knoxville Regional Center in Centerpoint Park off the Pellissippi Parkway. Now completed, the facility is occupied and in operation. The lower photos show the staircase in the entrance area (left) and one of several classrooms in the facility. (Tusculum College photos)

Tusculum's new Knoxville Regional Center now open and operating; ribbon-cutting ceremony to be held Aug. 27

Tusculum College's new Knoxville Regional Center, which serves as regional headquarters for the Graduate and Professional Studies program for working adult students, is now open and operating in Knoxville.

Work has continued the last few days on getting communications systems fully functional, but the actual final work on the building itself took place in late July.

Tusculum College staff members moved into the new building over the last weekend in July, with the first class meeting in the new facility that Saturday. Signs will be added the building within the next few weeks.

The name "Tusculum College" will be displayed above the front entrance as well as in large letters on a side of the building that will be easily visible to traffic on the Pellissippi Parkway. Tusculum College has scheduled a ribbon-cutting and open house for Tuesday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to officially unveil the new 30,000-square-foot structure, which almost doubles the amount of space that was available in the previous leased headquarters elsewhere in Knoxville.

"We are very proud of this new facility," said Tusculum College President Dr. Dolphus E. Henry. "We've needed this kind of regional headquarters in Knoxville for a long time, and already we're seeing the benefits of the increased space, more pleasant learning environment, and increased visibility this building gives us. The Knoxville Regional Center is also sure to provide a very high level of valuable awareness of the presence of Tusculum College in that very populous and growing portion of East Tennessee."

The new facility, located on 4.3 acres of land in Centerpoint Park, features 12 classrooms, a technology work room, a library/learning resource room, and computer laboratory facilities.

Two stories tall, the building's design incorporates a large arch framing the main entrance. The arch is reminiscent of the stone arch that is located at the front of the main campus on the main campus in the town of Tusculum.

Parking capacity for 250 cars is available at the new center.

Construction at the facility stayed on schedule or ahead of schedule throughout the construction period of about nine months. Lawler-Wood Group LLC of Knoxville provided oversight for the construction project. The general contractor was Merit Construction Co., of Knoxville. The Knoxville architectural firm of Barber & McMurry Inc. designed the building.

The construction was part of an $11 million building program undertaken by Tusculum College that also included construction of four new apartment-style residence halls to serve students in the traditional Residential College on Tusculum's Greeneville campus. About $4.5 million out of the total $11 million went toward the Knoxville center.

Tusculum College also celebrated another physical plant improvement related to its Professional Studies program when a ribbon-cutting was held on Friday, Aug. 2, at the Tusculum College Professional Studies Morristown Center. The addition of three large classrooms, a computer lab, two faculty offices, and a lobby area during the past year has more than doubled the size of the Morristown Center, which has six classrooms.