Construction continues on Latimer building at UTM

MARTIN, Tenn. — From just a shovel in some dirt five months ago, to the skeleton of a building.

“I can tell you when I was walking across the campus just five minutes ago, when you look up and see this tremendous building coming out of the ground, I’ve been here for 32 years, it’s amazing. It takes up a good portion, a quarter of our quad,” said Charley Deal, University of Tennessee Martin’s vice chancellor of university advancement.

The Latimer Engineering and Science Building at UT Martin is three stories tall and 120,000 square-feet, easily one of the biggest buildings on campus.

“The contractor is moving forward, as long as weather permits. They are doing a tremendous job of keeping us on our timeline,” Deal said.

The building is expected to be finished in fall 2022, meaning current high school juniors will be able to use the building in their freshman year of college.

“The impact it will have on our physical plan as well as our potential for enrollment growth is unbelievable,” Deal said.

The building will house most of the university’s science, engineering and math classes, with labs and meeting spaces for students.

Deal says hopefully it will draw more students to the university and to West Tennessee.

“It’s a fantastic display of modern technology combined with what we’re about at UT Martin: that family feel,” Deal said.

UT Martin officials say the building is expected to create about 900 jobs between construction and the first 10 years of graduates.