High-ranking state and MTSU officials broke ground on the $73.4 million operation at the new home of MTSU Aerospace’s new home, the Shelbyville Municipal Airport.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, Deputy Tennessee House Speaker Pat Marsh, Shelbyville Mayor Randy Carroll and university and airport officials gathered on Wednesday morning on a chilly tarmac and watched MTSU’s fleet of small aircraft taxi into a neat line.
“We mark an important milestone in establishing a new age, world-class aviation education campus, not only for the state of Tennessee, but for the United States of America,” McPhee said.
MTSU’s Shelbyville operation plans, announced in September 2023, aim to create an aviation hub that addresses the ever-growing need for expansion within the Department of Aerospace and its popular pilot training program. The move will relocate Aerospace operations from its longtime home at Murfreesboro Airport.
The plan includes new hangars, classrooms and offices at the Shelbyville airport. The project accommodates future fleet expansion and offers dedicated instructional spaces for training the next generation of aviation leaders, according to Chaminda Prelis, the chair of the aerospace department.
The Tennessee government funded $66 million of the $73.5 million needed for the project. Prelis and McPhee thanked state leaders, including Gov. Bill Lee and Marsh, for their support.
Wednesday’s presentation showed renderings of what the proposed buildings will look like and gave the audience an idea of the scale of the project. One building will house classrooms, meeting spaces and offices. Another will serve as a hangar with ample space to accommodate the fleet of more than 40 planes as it expands.
McPhee wanted the audience to reflect on the magnitude of the symbolic act of breaking ground. He also informed the crowd on how MTSU ended up on that tarmac on a chilly December morning.
“Over 80 years ago, when we established our aerospace program, the planes [flew] from the original runway right in the middle of our campus,” McPhee said. “We have provided the highest quality training for students interested in the vast field of aerospace and aviation.”
The share of students who study aerospace is now 7.5% of MTSU’s student population, Greg Van Patten, dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, said. Aerospace is also the number one choice for student veterans who attend MTSU, Van Patten added.
MTSU’s aerospace department already operates out of the Shelbyville airport, but its own facilities on the site will help keep this airport from quickly becoming overcrowded like Murfreesboro’s.
The horizon is bright for future pilots wanting to study at MTSU, according to Prelis.
“This is your facility,” Prelis said to the dozen or so students in attendance. “You will train here, teach here, and launch careers here. Two years from now, we’ll probably gather again, but this time, rather than having shovels, we will have keys. So let’s get to work.”
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