Communications Building to be torn down for Latimer Building
Construction in preparation for the new Latimer Engineering and Science Building will soon commence, beginning with the removal of the Communications Building on the southeast side of the quad within the upcoming weeks.
The three-story, 120,000 square foot Latimer Building will be built where the Communications Building is currently standing and will take up a portion of the parking lot behind the Sociology Building.
The building is estimated to cost $65 million which has already been funded through the state and the donation of William H. Latimer III, who the building will be named after.
State building projects on campuses require universities to raise 10 percent of the overall estimated cost before they will match with 90 percent of the funds, which was approximately $6.5 million concerning the STEM building. Latimer’s donation provided the entire match designated by the Tennessee General Assembly.
The STEM building will be home to 19 classrooms, with a total of 500 seats, approximately 35 technical labs, including teaching labs, prep labs, research labs and computer labs with around 500 seats. It will also include 75 office spaces for faculty and staff.
The building will feature a structural glass facade with an open layout of the first floor encouraging a community welcoming area. The building is “L” shaped and will also have a small courtyard.
The departments of Engineering, Chemistry and Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics and Statistics are moving into the new STEM building while the Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) building will still be home to the Geoscience and Biological Science departments.
“We will be much more modern in terms of what we’re offering. The amount of collaboration I expect within and across departments will increase,” Dr. Shadow Robinson, dean of Engineering and Natural Sciences, said. “The connectedness of the spaces (having math and computer science right beside each other for example) will allow for much more collaboration within and between departments, both for the faculty and students.”
“We also made sure there is a lot of space for students near the faculty spaces, to encourage more learning beyond the classroom, and to see the one on one engagement between faculty and students be an even greater part of the UT Martin experience.”
Bids for the construction of the building will begin during the late fall or early winter of 2019 and the bidding is currently being considered an open process with equal opportunities for companies interested in the project.
The building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2022.
Other programs will have the opportunity to move into EPS after construction of the Latimer Building is complete. Humanities will also be more available as the math department moves into the STEM building.
Abigale Plunk, a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major from Martin, said, “I think the Latimer STEM Building will provide UTM students and faculty with a more up-to-date learning environment. In addition, the increased amount of labs will provide more opportunities to do better projects.”
Robinson explained the new building would host multiple workshops that would allow for students, faculty and community members to work collaboratively on projects. Its design focuses on student research and experiential learning, embracing the Strategic Plan’s goals for future Skyhawks.
“It’ll be a building that is far more welcoming than so many traditional academic buildings,” Robinson said. “It’ll have space; we really want it to be a place where not just STEM majors, not just students who need to go in there to see their math professor (go), but really a place where students want to hang out.”
As construction begins, the STEM department plans to have a webcam focused on the site to show updates of the building progress which will be accessible through the UTM homepage.
The bids for the demolition of the Communications Building have been processed and accepted, so construction is projected to begin within the 120 days. Students should expect limited parking available in the Humanities and Sociology parking lots for years to come.
The Communications Building was first built in 1935 as a kitchen and a dining hall for the UT Junior College, the predecessor to UTM. The building was remodeled in 1947 and served as the university’s cafeteria until the Student Center was completed in 1965. It was converted in the 1960s into an instructional TV studio for WLJT-TV Public Television, and was renamed the Communications Building in 1979. | Photo and information courtesy www.utm.edu/departments/special_collections/college_history/index.php
