Contractor Chosen for $16 Million Campus Project

Denark Construction, 1635 Western Ave., Knoxville, Tenn., has been selected by the Tennessee Building Commission as the construction manager/general contractor for the $16 million campus consolidation project at the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton. Preliminary site preparation is expected to get underway soon on a 12-acre tract at the Main Campus, located at 426 State Highway 91, across from the Elizabethton Municipal Airport.  Construction is scheduled to begin in March of 2012 and completed by July of 2013.

The existing Administration Building, pictured at left, will be renovated to house Practical Nursing, Certified Nurse Aide and an Industry Training lab and classroom; the building on the right will be the new Administration Building, which will house Administrative Offices, Business Systems Technology, Computer Information Technology, and Electricity/Electronics; the building on the top right will house Diesel Powered Equipment and Automotive Technology; and the building on the top left will house Welding, Pipefitting and Plumbing, Millwright Skills, and HVAC/Refrigeration.

Dean Blevins, director, said he looks forward to the completion of the project, which will redirect funds now being used to lease training facilities off campus and reduce the waiting list to enter existing training programs. It will also allow TTC-Elizabethton to provide additional training programs on short notice requested by employers.

The project will add approximately 78,000 square feet of training space at one location to combine the 10 full-tine training programs now taught at the Herman Robinson Campus, located at 1500 Arney Street in Elizabethton, the Main Campus, and in leased training facilities in Elizabethton. The new campus complex will have approximately 95,000 square feet.

Steve Lucas, executive vice president of Denark, said his company has been working with the Tennessee Board of Regents since 2007, serving as construction manager/general contractor in the construction of higher education and skills shops projects.

“The (Denark) team’s experience in working in the campus environment has demonstrated many times that they understand their responsibility to deliver your project on time and within your budget, but more importantly that it be delivered by maintaining the safety of the students, faculty, campus visitors, and the construction team,” Lucas said.

Reedy and Sykes Architects and Design, Elizabethton, and Shaw and Shanks PC, Johnson City, is a joint venture architecture team selected for the project. “The team has worked for the State of Tennessee since 2006.  Both firms have worked on other state projects for more than 20 years,” Reedy said.

 “Our design team engineers are Engineering Services Group, 900 East Hill Ave., Suite 350, Knoxville (mechanical); West, Welch, Reed,  5417 Ball Camp Pike, Knoxville (electrical); and Spoden & Wilson, 214 S. Commerce St., Suite 201, Kingsport  (civil and structural),” Reedy said.

Reedy and Sykes was the architect for the fourth building addition, which opened in July 1997 at the Main Campus.  Currently, the 17,000 square foot building houses administrative offices, the bookstore, offices for student services and financial assistance, and classrooms and labs for Business Systems Technology, Electricity-Electronics and Millwright Skills training programs.

The building was later renamed after former State Rep. Ralph Cole of Elizabethton.

A new construction vehicle entrance for the $16 million campus consolidation project (Project No. 166/052-01-2010) will be constructed on Industrial Drive to minimize traffic congestion of  students, faculty and staff traveling to the Main Campus.

Approximately 350 students commute to classes daily at TTC-Elizabethton from Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington Counties. The average age of students attending TTC-Elizabethton is 32.

The school began operation in 1965 as the State Area Vocational-Technical School at Elizabethton, at its original site, 1500 Arney Street in Elizabethton, and has operated continuously since then.

In 1994, the Tennessee General Assembly changed the school’s name to the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton.  Subsequently, the school’s Arney Street campus was renamed the Herman Robinson Campus in memory of the late state senator, prime sponsor of  legislation enacted in 1963 to establish vocational technical schools within a 50-mile radius of every residence in Tennessee.

In the 46-year history of the school, there have been six directors – Tommy Neece, Lonnie Hyder, Kelly Yates, Dr. Bruce Blanding, Jerry Patton and Dean Blevins.