General Assembly Approves $25M For Roane State-TCAT Oneida Joint Facility

The Tennessee General Assembly has approved some $25 million for a high learning facility in Fentress County.

Senator Ken Yager said that a new joint facility between Roane State Community College and TCAT Oneida/Hartsville has been in the works since at least 2019. He said that after reading a statistic that only 16 percent of Fentress Countians seek out higher education, it’s something he began to actively pursue.

“By having an up-to-date modern facility there at home, I’m hopeful will encourage our graduates of our high schools to take advantage both at the college and at the TCAT,” Yager said.

Yager said that $21 million will go towards the construction of the facility centrally located in the county on a site donated by the county. He said that the remaining $4 million will go to equip it.

Yager said that the planned 26,000 square-foot facility will be more than three times the size of Roane State’s current leased facility. He said it will be equipped with up-to-date technology and equipment.

“The next step of course, hte fiscal year starts July 1st so the money would not be available until then,” Yare said. “The Board of Regents has a procedure, they will have to hire an architect who would prepare the plans. I wouldn’t think that we would be having a groundbreaking immediately because there is a lot of work and the planning that has to be done. But within a year I would expect we would have a groundbreaking.”

Yager said that they expect the allotment to cover the entire project.