Grundy County acquires former National Guard Armory to close vocational training gap

The former National Guard Armory between Tracy City and Monteagle purchased by Grundy County government. (Courtesy: Michael Brady)

GRUNDY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- “When you’re traveling 30-40 miles to get those job skills it’s a barrier.”

Access to education is critical to the success of any community.

One rural Tennessee county is looking to close a major gap.

Grundy County Mayor Michael Brady has announced they have acquired the county’s National Guard Armory building between Tracy City and Monteagle.

Initially, the price to acquire that building, which the mayor says has been around since the 1990s, was going to be too steep for the county.

Mayor Brady said, “The price came in at $1.2 million and that is a huge price for a small rural community.”

However, the county was able to obtain a million dollar grant through the state of Tennessee to reduce the county’s purchasing price to $150,000.

With the opportunity now on the table, Mayor Brady says the armory will serve as the home of T-CAT classes in Grundy County.

T-CAT offers classes in various vocational fields.

However, Grundy County students were having to travel to the Chattanooga area or McMinnville in Warren County to attend those classes.

Mayor Brady said, “We’re going to be offering some classes, reaching out to local businesses to see what skills are needed. We will also be doing community surveys for those skills that are needed so these folks can get the job skills that they need and they’re not having to travel those long distances.”

He says that the building will also serve various community purposes like being a storm shelter.

The mayor says this could lead to even more exciting news for Grundy County down the road.

Mayor Brady said, “I had a conversation yesterday. I don’t want to say it too much about the employer, but it would be a significant amount of jobs and being able to offer that information to this potential employer that we’re going to have these classes here… TCAT McMinnville already offers classes for those skills that they’re looking for, but they will be able to have that in our community which they want to locate to, and that’s huge.”

Mayor Brady says that the armory needs to be retrofitted before T-CAT classes can take place.