GROUND BREAKING SIGNALS START OF UT MARTIN SOMERVILLE CENTER RENOVATIONS

GROUND BREAKING SIGNALS START OF UT MARTIN SOMERVILLE CENTER

RENOVATIONS

SOMERVILLE, Tenn. – Danielle Ables was determined to attend college after earning her GED

certificate from Fayette Literacy. The 20-year- old Somerville resident found the educational

opportunity she needed close to home at the University of Tennessee at Martin Somerville

Center. Ables joined fellow students Courtney Burns and Elizabeth Wilburn and other officials

for a ground-breaking ceremony Dec. 7 that marked the beginning of major renovations to the

center’s new home at the former Methodist Fayette Hospital. The new facility is expected to

open in fall 2017.

Ables works part-time at night for FedEx and is a full-time student as she pursues academic

interests in both agriculture and business. Earning a college degree without the expense of

leaving home is within reach, thanks to the center. “It’s just amazing how we can actually go to

school and get a better education here in our hometown,” she said. “It means a lot.”

She also sees the center’s future location benefitting both students and the area. “I think it’s

going to bring more people to Somerville, hopefully more students,” she said. “Hopefully, it’s

going to bring the community together, just the building itself, because everybody has come

together to work so hard on it.”

Discussions about a possible Fayette County higher education center began in 2004. The

University of Tennessee and UT Martin became involved in 2012 when a new building for the

center was initially proposed, but the project was cost-prohibitive. Methodist Fayette Hospital

then closed in March 2015, and Fayette County officials suggested Methodist Healthcare give

the facility to the town. The facility was transferred to the town in July 2015, and Methodist

Healthcare gave the city $250,000 to assist with the facility’s renovation. On July 25, the State

Building Commission approved a lease between the University of Tennessee and the city of

Somerville to house the UT Martin Somerville Center in the former hospital building.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly approved $250,000 in recurring funding for

the center in the state’s 2016-17 budget. Also approved was $875,000 in one-time funding to

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support the hospital’s renovation. Gov. Bill Haslam visited Somerville on July 26 to formally

present UT Martin with the total $1.125 million in funding from the state to establish the new

center.

Attendees were greeted Dec. 7 by overcast, cold and windy conditions as they arrived at the

ground-breaking event held at the facility’s main entrance. Construction workers were already on

site, and renovation work was imminent. “Two steps forward, one step back – I think we finally

made the final leap here,” said Bob Turner, Somerville city administrator, as he opened the

event.

Skip Taylor, Fayette County mayor, said the project took many turns through the years, and he

credited retired UT Extension agent and former state Rep. Jamie Jenkins, state Sen. Dolores

Gresham (R-District 26) and others for giving the project direction. “We tried a bunch of

different ways (to create the center), and everybody here today, and a lot folks who aren’t here

today … my thanks go out to them, because there’s no way any of us could have done this by

ourselves,” he told the audience.

Gresham followed Taylor on the program and acknowledged the work that made the center a

reality for Somerville, Fayette County and the region. “I am so happy that this will begin today.

And, as I had said before, this is truly a game-changing event,” she said. “It’s a game-changer for

each of us who are here personally, and it’s a game-changer for the students who will attend

school here. Thank you, Jesus, for this great day.”

Newly elected Somerville Mayor Ronnie Neill added his thanks to the Somerville board of

alderman, the higher education committee, the county commission, city mayors and others who

supported the center. “This center will be much more than a place to obtain college credit. It will

be a place that will change people’s lives. It will be a local opportunity to improve yourself for

the workforce,” Neill said. “We will be supporting the mega-site just 13 miles north of here, and

we’ll be supporting the governor’s Drive to 55. So all of those things will occur on this site.”

UT Martin Interim Chancellor Bob Smith helped create the University of Tennessee’s first

higher education center in McNairy County, which opened in 1998. He sees UT Martin’s fifth

off-campus center well positioned to succeed. “I think you’re going to look back five years from

now, 10 years for sure, and say, ‘My word, what have we accomplished here?’ because it will be

extraordinary,” he said. “The best days are ahead for this center,” Smith added on behalf of

incoming UT Martin Chancellor Keith Carver. Smith’s interim chancellor’s appointment will

end in early January, and Carver will begin his role as the university’s 10 th chancellor Jan. 3.

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Ronnie Neill once again took the podium to announce that the building’s future community room

will be named the Chickasaw Electric Community Room in honor of a recent donation by the

Chickasaw Electric Cooperative. He also presented a plaque of appreciation to Smith from the

town of Somerville and the citizens of Fayette County for his support of the center.

Kara Tapp, center director, closed the event by thanking both the Oakland and Fayette County

chambers for their support. She also recognized the three center students who helped with the

event. “I’m proud of them, and they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go off to college,

because they might not have had the means to go,” she said. “And this gives them the

opportunity to drive 10, 15 minutes from their home and come here.”

Danielle Ables already has career options in mind after she earns her degree. In the meantime,

she is taking advantage of educational opportunities at the Somerville Center that will benefit

future generations. “It’s great what everybody’s doing, coming together as a community to better

everything,” she said. “It’s just really amazing.”

Learn more about the UT Martin Somerville Center at utm.edu/departments/somerville/ or call

the center at 901-465- 7313.

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