UTC breaks ground on their new Health Sciences Building
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Today, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Dorthy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building.
Olivia Walls, the Student Nurses Association president says, “As I said before, UTC nursing has given me everything. I feel like I’ve grown up here, so just being able to have faculty here that support this program and to see the program grow, it’s just really great to see. You know? I’ll graduate in May, but who’s to say I don’t get to come here for my masters, or the students that get to come next. So, yeah, just exciting!”
Leaders and faculty say that the only thing that has been holding their talented nursing students back, has been the lack of space.
The school’s students, factuality, and staff have quickly outgrown the current facility at the Metro Annex location of 30,000 square feet, however, with to an 8-million-dollar gift from the Kennedy Foundation, great change is coming.
The project’s anticipated cost of $77 million dollars will be funded through a combination of donations and state resources, with a building campaign goal of $21 million.
Jim Kennedy III, one of the Kennedy Foundation’s trustees says, “Mom was a graduate of UTC, and she would be so honored that a very important facility on campus at UTC will be named after her and dad. Dad was always civically minded and started The Kennedy Foundation almost 40 years ago, using his same savings, so he could contribute to the enrichment of the Hamilton County community.”
The New Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building will end up being 90,000 square feet, and will be able to house eight classrooms, accommodating more than 400 students daily.
Many key leaders spoke at the ceremony, including Chancellor Angle, UT System President Randy Boyd and School of Nursing, and Jim Kennedy the third.
Senator Bo Watson of District 11 says, “There is no other profession, no other profession in Health care that creates greater opportunities than the nursing profession.”
This is a very exciting time for not the present nursing students, but future ones as well.
Instead of having to turn a large number of potential nursing students away, due to the lack of space, there will be much more room to accommodate hundreds of others.
That is such a wonderful milestone for UTC and the Tennessee Valley.
The building is set to open in 2026, but we’ll have several progress reports along the way.
