UTK begins construction of $129M engineering building

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville broke ground on a new research and engineering building Friday afternoon.

Construction on the $129 million, 228,000 square foot building is scheduled to be completed in 2021. University officials, donors and students attended the groundbreaking ceremony, which was held at Gate 26 of Neyland Stadium because of weather.

“This new complex will continue to allow us to provide an excellent education for our students,” Mark Dean, interim dean of the Tickle College of Engineering, said.

The currently unnamed building will be located where Estabrook, Pasqua and Berry Halls once stood, behind Neyland Stadium and near other science buildings on campus. Wayne Davis, interim chancellor of UTK, said the building will “allow us to recruit the best and brightest students,” while paying tribute to the buildings that once stood there.

“We had a major commitment to preserving the memories of Estabrook Hall,” Davis said.

The building will be used by the Tickle College of Engineering and house the freshman fundamentals curriculum, the

Joseph C. and Judith E. Cook Grand Challenge Honors Program, the Min H. and Yu-Fan Kao Innovation and Collaboration Studio, the department of nuclear engineering, and laboratories for research.

The building will include 23 laboratories for the nuclear engineering program. Construction is scheduled to begin this year.

John Tickle, who the Tickle College of Engineering is named after, said he was excited about what the new building meant for students at UTK.

“We’re number one, just remember that,” Tickle said. “We’re not going to settle for anything less.”

RENDERING BY MCCARTY HOLSAPLE MCCARTY IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SMITH GROUP Rendering of the new engineering building at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The university held a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday afternoon.