Photo courtesy of J. Intintoli / MTSU
MTSU officials broke ground Tuesday morning for the construction of a new building that will house three disciplines in the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences. MTSU President Sidney McPhee and other university officials were joined by state Reps. Tim Rudd and Dawn White and Murfreesboro City Councilman Eddie Smotherman for the ground-breaking ceremony.
The new building will be located in an area north of the Student Union Commons on what is now partly grass and partly a parking lot. The $39.6 million, 91,000-square-foot building will house the departments of criminal justice, psychology and social work and will include faculty offices, classrooms and laboratory space. Completion of the new building is projected for the summer or fall of 2020.
“We strategically selected this location to create a neighborhood for Behavioral and Health Sciences students, faculty and staff that is advantageously positioned within a 10-minute walk of other learning and research facilities,” McPhee said in a press release. “Its state-of-the-art design will enhance our campus quadrangles and enrich our learning landscape.”
Neuroscience programs for the study of electroencephalography, the recording of electrical activity in the brain to measure brain activity, are expected to benefit from the new lab space. Another feature of the new building will be a command center where students from all three disciplines will be trained to interact with different types of emergency management personnel.
Of the total cost, $35.1 million is provided by state government, and $4.5 million was provided by the university. The Nashville-based architectural firm of Bauer Askew designed the three-story building. New York-based Turner Construction, with offices in Nashville, is the general contractor.
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