Higher education gets boost in McMinnville – Motlow College expansion under way

With the goal of bolstering educational opportunities for people in Warren County ‘ and throughout the region ‘ the expansion of Motlow College’s McMinnville campus officially got under way yesterday with a groundbreaking ceremony.

The $3.94 million expansion project will more than double the size of the McMinnville campus with an additional 19,304 square feet that will include four high-tech classrooms, a library, science, nursing and computer labs, and administrative and faculty space. The current Motlow facility is 17,000 square feet.

The expansion is especially timely considering Motlow’s record enrollment of 847 students. The project is expected to be complete in time for the fall 2008 semester.

‘When we think about record enrollment and this expansion, and the number of students we will be able to have enrolled at this campus, this is a great day for Warren County,’ said County Executive John Pelham. ‘When we think about being progressive-minded, we think first about education. We are moving forward. Great things are happening in Warren County and we need to continue to think positive.’

Cookeville-based Midstate Construction Company was awarded the project in early August with a bid of $3 million. The state legislature has appropriated $3.94 million for construction and furnishing expenses. That includes funding for a first-rate entrance to give Motlow an aura it hasn’t had before.

‘We want this to look like an institution of higher education,’ said state Sen. Jerry Cooper, a longtime Motlow supporter.

Cooper reminisced about a meeting he had with educator Jonah Fitch around 20 years ago where the topic of a two-year college in McMinnville was first mentioned. Cooper, who was a newly elected state senator at the time, said Fitch wanted him to pitch this idea to the General Assembly.

‘I told the legislature why Warren County needed a higher education facility,’ said Cooper. ‘And there were some doubts about it. One person said, ‘Why can’t they just go to Tullahoma’? Another person said the school would never have over 200 students. Now that this has blossomed into an 840-student facility, I can say that person was wrong.’

Dr. Charles Manning, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents which oversees 45 post-secondary institutions, said Cooper’s determination has been a driving force behind the project.

‘There’s been no one who has dogged us in Nashville about this project as much as Sen. Cooper,’ said Manning.

Motlow College president Dr. MaryLou Apple said the expansion will allow the college to cater to more students, but she emphasized Motlow won’t lose sight of its mission.

‘Our real goal is to maintain quality and give students the best education we can,’ said Apple.

Built in 1990-91 at a cost of $946,000, the local Motlow campus improvement budget is four times the amount it took to build the original school. The addition is being constructed at the front of the school and dirt work is currently taking place.

Heavy equipment work was suspended for about an hour yesterday for the groundbreaking ceremony. When officials began to dissipate, workers were quick to start machinery and resume dirt work.