Bidding set to begin in the next two weeks on Fentress County’s new academic campus.
County Executive Jimmy Johnson said multiple bids for the Roane State/TCAT facility are moving forward. Johnson said a lot of work has gone into the building since it was funded in 2022.
“It’s a process, of course, with the state,” Johnson said. “And we’re very thankful that it is coming, we just wish that we could get just a little bit started, but we’re going to here in the next, I know in the next thirty days because we talked with the folks that are doing the general contractor work.”
The 49,000-square-foot joint campus for TCAT and Roane State is being built just outside the Jamestown city limits. Johnson said it will be exciting for the community to be able to see the construction happening on the campus in the near future.
“You can put up all the signs, all the billboards you want, but until the dirt start(s) moving you know something’s really happening,” Johnson said.
The campus’ groundbreaking ceremony took place early April and previous projections said they plan to hold classes there by Fall 2025. Johnson said the current student population that will end up using the facility is active and excited.
“We’re really blessed here in Fentress County with what we have and what we’re getting and we appreciate all the people and we’re just honored to be able to work for the people of Fentress County,” Johnson said.