Nashville College & University Expansion

[markhollin]

Belmont Univ. Caldwell Hall II (11 stories, 782 beds) update: more excavation, blasting, and core drilling.

Looking SE from Caldwell Ave., 1/4 block east of 15th Ave. South:

Looking SW from Caldwell Ave., 1/4 block east of 15th Ave. South:

[markhollin]

Fisk University  is proposing planning the 35,000 sq. ft. Fisk Allied Science Building on 1 acre at 1604 Jackson St. It will feature flexible laboratory space, teaching labs and a multi-purpose auditorium.   A home on the site will be razed to make way. Fulmer Lucas Engineering and the Bradley Architects are involved in the project. It is expected to be ready in 2024. No rendering available.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/09/01/deal-dash-vanderbilt-faces-two-lawsuits.html

[PillowTalk4]

Updates from TSU.  Nothing to announce in terms of actual construction starting, but TSU is in the process of finalizing a masterplan that is planned for final approval in January of 2024.  Below is the actual content regarding the masterplan from their Board of Trustees Meeting on September 14, 2023:

The masterplan draft includes a review of future development opportunities and partnerships near the main campus such as:

Major Hotel and Conference Center • Live-Work Development around Athletics Complex • MLB Baseball Stadium on Riverfront Athletics Opportunities • Relocate Athletics • Improved Football Facilities • New Football Stadium • Replace Gentry Center • New Ice Hockey Arena • New Baseball Stadium • New Rowing Facility with Boat Slips • New Soccer Complex • New Sand Volleyball • New Indoor Golf Practice Facility • New Band Facility

The masterplan draft includes a review of future development opportunities and partnerships at the Avon Williams campus such as:

Mixed-use Development Partnership • Public Private Partnership (P3) • College of Business Executive Leadership Program • Improved Incubation Center • Graduate / Professional Housing • Expanded Education & Public Services • Classified / Secured Data Business Center

************************************************************************************

Below are Construction and Facilities Updates also from the TSU Board of Trustees Meeting on9/14/23:

TSU HOUSING BUSINESS PLAN

TSU Campus Planning Department partnered with Moody Nolan and Mackey Mitchell architects to study the current housing needs at TSU. TSU conducted a cost-over-time analysis to determine priorities for future housing projects. This analysis guides the sequencing of future demolition, renovation, and new construction. The housing business plan will be dynamic by design. TSU will have the flexibility to modify the housing style, site, and schedule as necessary to reflect demand in the local market.

NEW FOOD & ANIMAL SCIENCE BUILDING

Kline Sweeney and Associates was selected as the architect. Tennessee Board of Regents and TSU Campus Planning Department are working to get the architect’s contract executed. The design of this facility will require approximately 9-12 months. Construction is projected to begin in 2025.

NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE BUILDING

On May 11, 2023, SBC approved the construction project for the Environmental Science Building. The architect selection is currently in process. Construction is projected to begin in 2025.

NEW GATEWAY ARCH

Office of the State Architect approval is required to construct the gateway arch. The required project documents were issued for review and approval. Simultaneously with this approval/review, the interested contractor(s) are conducting a constructability review in response to the latest design proposal (investigates a two-part solution that limits risk and reduces construction & lead times).

CAPITAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS

TSU updated the capital disclosure project information for the New Engineering Project. The project disclosure previously submitted was for 70,000 SF - $60M. The recently updated project is for 191,000 SF-$184M. TSU continues to work with TBR and the architect (Bauer Askew) to determine the best way forward. At present, TSU seeks your approval to continue designing the $184M New Engineering Building, understanding the design will include segments that can be removed to accommodate reductions in the project budget.

[markhollin]

Belmont Univ. Caldwell Hall II (11 stories, 782 beds) update: more excavation, blasting, and core drilling.

Looking west from Caldwell Ave., 1/3 block east of 15th Ave. South:
 

[markhollin]

Fisk University Dorm (4 stories, 216 beds) update: windows installed; top floor done; awaiting angled roof.

LookingNE from intersection of Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd: and Meharry Blvd:

Looking east from Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd,  1/2 block north of Meharry Blvd:

[nashville born]

Gov. Bill Lee was sent a letter on Monday from the U.S. Secretaries of Education and Agriculture.  The letter stated that according to federal estimates, Tennessee has underfunded TSU by $2 billion dollars over the last thirty years.  That puts Tennessee at the top of the list (with Florida)  of states that have stiffed their historically black land-grant institutions.

An excerpt:

"The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in Tennessee State University disadvantages the students, faculty and community that the institution serves," secretaries Miguel Cardona and Thomas Vilsack wrote to Lee. "Furthermore, it may contribute to a lack of economic activity that would ultimately benefit Tennessee.

For more on the topic, here's the NP article.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/education/feds-tennessee-has-underfunded-tsu-by-2-1b/article_0fc98dc8-56e9-11ee-9215-534a45d953a1.html

[markhollin]

Belmont University Frist School of Medicine (6 stories, 160,000 sq. ft., internal garage) update: most of south side stonework and column installation complete; scaffolding down on that side.  

Looking east from Acklen Ave., 1/3 block east of 15th Ave. South:

Looking NW from Acklen Ave., 1/3 block west of 12th Ave. South:

Looking SE from Wedgewood Ave.1/4 block east of 15th Ave. South:

Looking south from Wedgwood Ave. at 14th Ave. South:

[nashville born]

Not sure what aspect of my last post was funny. 

I'm now squarely in the camp with those who have lamented the anonymity of reactions.  I'm imagining it might be a bit more difficult to laugh at such an article if one's name was attached to the laughter.  But then again...

Back to expansion...keep 'em coming, Mark!!!!

[PillowTalk4]

On 9/19/2023 at 11:53 AM, nashville born said:

Gov. Bill Lee was sent a letter on Monday from the U.S. Secretaries of Education and Agriculture.  The letter stated that according to federal estimates, Tennessee has underfunded TSU by $2 billion dollars over the last thirty years.  That puts Tennessee at the top of the list (with Florida)  of states that have stiffed their historically black land-grant institutions.

An excerpt:

"The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in Tennessee State University disadvantages the students, faculty and community that the institution serves," secretaries Miguel Cardona and Thomas Vilsack wrote to Lee. "Furthermore, it may contribute to a lack of economic activity that would ultimately benefit Tennessee.

For more on the topic, here's the NP article.

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/education/feds-tennessee-has-underfunded-tsu-by-2-1b/article_0fc98dc8-56e9-11ee-9215-534a45d953a1.html

For those without access to the Nashville Post you can access info about the USDA and USDE letters to states with HBCU's classified as Land Grant Institutions that were not allocated all the funding they were due.

Secretaries of Education, Agriculture Call on Governors to Equitably Fund Land-Grant HBCUs

Letters to State Governors - Page 34 for the letter to Gov. Lee

[PillowTalk4]

38 minutes ago, nashville born said:

Not sure what aspect of my last post was funny. 

I'm now squarely in the camp with those who have lamented the anonymity of reactions.  I'm imagining it might be a bit more difficult to laugh at such an article if one's name was attached to the laughter.  But then again...

Back to expansion...keep 'em coming, Mark!!!!

Some may not see the atrocious act of withholding funds that were due to Tennessee State University as an issue relative to college/university expansion.  The reality is underfunding has hampered the expansion and upkeep of the campus.   Chances are TSU will not see an amount anywhere near the amount estimated by the USDA and USDE of $2,147,784,704.00 that should have been allocated to TSU by the State of Tennessee.

[markhollin]

Belmont Univ. Caldwell Hall II (11 stories, 782 beds) update: more excavation, blasting, and core drilling.

Looking west from Caldwell Ave., 1/3 block east of 15th Ave. South:

Looking SW from intersection of 15th Ave. South and Caldwell Ave:

[PillowTalk4]

Renderings of the TSU Football Operations Center (posted on X by Dusty Bennett, Executive Associate AD/Chief of Staff in the TSU Athletics Department)

[markhollin]

Belmont University Frist School of Medicine (6 stories, 160,000 sq. ft., internal garage) update: most of south side stonework and column installation complete; scaffolding down on that side.  

Looking SE from Wedgewood Ave.1/4 block east of 15th Ave. South:

[Nathan_in_DC]

On 9/26/2023 at 8:09 AM, PillowTalk4 said:

Renderings of the TSU Football Operations Center (posted on X by Dusty Bennett, Executive Associate AD/Chief of Staff in the TSU Athletics Department)

I really, really hate the trend lately of building these massive, multi-million dollar facilities exclusively for football teams and athletic programs. Facilities that the vast majority of students of TSU will never have access to and are solely there for the comfort of administrators and to attract potential athletes. All the big football schools do it, including my alma mater over in Knoxville. I know this is a "back in my day!" moment, but at least when I was there the vast majority of students had the good sense to resent the firewall built by the athletics department that kept most students out of their buildings and off their fields. Now it seems like they celebrate it.

/rant

[Luvemtall]

Essentially all these colleges and universities are businesses , and they like all businesses have to put resources into what ultimately makes them money. Sports generates revenue, math, science, and all those other academic programs do not. So it’s obviously going to be build the best athletics programs and facilities, let them generate revenue and ALL the other programs get funded. 

[Nathan_in_DC]

2 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

Essentially all these colleges and universities are businesses , and they like all businesses have to put resources into what ultimately makes them money. Sports generates revenue, math, science, and all those other academic programs do not. So it’s obviously going to be build the best athletics programs and facilities, let them generate revenue and ALL the other programs get funded. 

Pretty sure that, by definition, universities (certainly not public ones, anyway) aren't businesses. Perhaps they're treated as such by some in government and their administrations, but that doesn't mean that is how they are chartered or intended to function. Anyway, perhaps I'm mistaken, but I seriously doubt that the TSU football program would bring in enough revenue to fund this sort of thing by itself without outside assistance...assistance that could otherwise go towards academic programs or quality of life improvements for the broader student body.

[Luvemtall]

I’m not going to totally disagree with you, I didn’t say I like the way it is but I’m just making a reference to what actually seems to be happening. 
you’re right that technically universities are not a business , but same could be said about any supposedly “public “ institution including all forms of government. But yet they need to be run like one, they have employees, facilities, pensions, insurance, infrastructure etc to be responsible for. Where do you suppose the funds for all that comes from? In the case of TSU obviously not the State , since they neglected to provide over 2 billion dollars due to the University. But yes TAXES , are used to fund public education and bankroll government. Just like we need to fund our household and pay the bills , and the cost keeps rising, same holds true for everything else including education and government. Sometimes you need to spend a little to make a little, and the way to generate revenue for these schools is with athletics. I myself would like to see more money spent on the academic side of things, but we need to look at the whole picture and realize that sometimes the picture isn’t what we want. 

[tragenvol]

22 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

But yes TAXES , are used to fund public education and bankroll government.

Just to clarify:  taxes fund K-12 public education; public higher education is only partially funded by taxes, that's why there is tuition.

[Luvemtall]

Yes , there’s tuition, but the state universities and colleges are also funded by our taxes. I’ve had three children go though these schools, I know how things work. Regardless of how any of us think , my point is athletics is the primary source for income and that has been told to me by the top level brass at a local state university. 

[tragenvol]

Not picking at you; clarifying.  Your previous statement could be interpreted to state that public higher education institutions are 100% funded by tax dollars. 

Athletics revenue and/or income do not cross into institutional funds, and only fund athletics expenditures (auxiliary enterprises), and if regional universities like TSU had to depend upon the revenue they generate from athletics to maintain their athletics departments, they wouldn't be able to keep their lights on.  Auxiliary funds do not cross into institutional funds, but institutional funds and tax dollars do prop up athletic departments at regional universities.  I just heard the other day from a "top brass" i.e., A.D. at a regional university that their tv revenue last year was $75,000.   $75,000 might fund five athletics scholarships on a good day.   Most of us would agree, that's not very much.  Now, big state universities with tv contracts, and huge fan bases generate dramatic levels of revenue and sometimes income after expenses, but not most state universities...especially regional universities.

Per their finanical statements available to the public, MTSU last year had nearly $140 million in tuition revenue (after discounts and allowances); athletics did not produce half that revenue nor did it produce any income after expenses.  The next largest source of funding was state appropriations at just under $130 million or so.

I've seen athletics contracts (SEC were awesome literature), reviewed financials, and have been privy to athletics appropriations.  I certainly wasn't trying to offend, only provide clarification to our audience.

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by tragenvol

[Nathan_in_DC]

However you roll it, the point still stands: state universities are spending millions of dollars on limited use athletics facilities while, in many cases, academic funding stagnates, doesn't keep up with inflation, or in some cases falls. In the case of UTK, some news sources state football actually makes money and funds the rest of the athletic department, while others say they operate in a deficit. Both can't be true, so I went to a primary source, the UT athletics department's reports to the NCAA on revenue and expenses.

The 2022 reports show revenues of $154 million (with $0 claimed from state or university and over $32 million in donations), with expenses of $157 million (including $1 million exactly in transfers back to the university and $18 million in scholarships). The numbers aren't much better pre-pandemic, though at least they appeared to have broken even ($142.9 million income vs. $143.7 million expenses). If the state's flagship university that is able to clear over $150 million in revenues from ticket sales, licensing fees, broadcast rights, etc., can't pay their own bills, then there is NO way that TSU's is.

We can talk all day about how athletics departments are great tools for student recruitment and campus prestige (maybe they are, maybe they aren't), but I'll be hard pressed to be convinced that multi-million dollar field houses solely for the use of team members and athletics administrators is a good investment. Especially when schools like TSU are getting stiffed by the state to the tune of 2 billion dollars.

[tragenvol]

1 hour ago, Nathan_in_DC said:

The 2022 reports show revenues of $154 million (with $0 claimed from state or university and over $32 million in donations), with expenses of $157 million (including $1 million exactly in transfers back to the university and $18 million in scholarships). The numbers aren't much better pre-pandemic, though at least they appeared to have broken even ($142.9 million income vs. $143.7 million expenses). If the state's flagship university that is able to clear over $150 million in revenues from ticket sales, licensing fees, broadcast rights, etc., can't pay their own bills, then there is NO way that TSU's is.

Right; as is generally so with public university athletics departments, athletic revenue will equal athletic expenses presenting zero bottom line income for the year as every dollar earned will go back (transfer to a "savings account") or be spent as an athletics fund expenditure.  As that old saying goes, athletics departments have holes in their pockets.

[Nathan_in_DC]

8 hours ago, tragenvol said:

Right; as is generally so with public university athletics departments, athletic revenue will equal athletic expenses presenting zero bottom line income for the year as every dollar earned will go back (transfer to a "savings account") or be spent as an athletics fund expenditure.  As that old saying goes, athletics departments have holes in their pockets.

Yep...I found it odd going back through the years how closely income matched expenditures, relatively speaking. It's either extremely coincidental or some talented accounting acrobatics that always escapes oversight.

[markhollin]

Belmont Univ. Caldwell Hall II (11 stories, 782 beds) update: more excavation, blasting, and core drilling; hole on west side at 15 ft. depth.

Looking SE from intersection of Caldwell Ave. and 15th Ave. South:

[markhollin]

Belmont University Frist School of Medicine (6 stories, 160,000 sq. ft., internal garage) update:  primary columns along Wedgewood Ave. nearing completion.

Looking south from Wedgewood Ave. at 14th Ave. South: