Cleveland, TN–Three new buildings to house on-campus students are being constructed simultaneously on the Lee University campus and will be ready for occupancy when the fall semester begins in August of this year.
Crews work on one of three new housing residences currently under construction on the Lee University campus. In the background are two of the buildings of Brinsfield Row.
The two-story townhouse complexes will feature two- bedroom, two-bath units which will house four students each. The three buildings are all under different phases of construction from fully under roof to breaking ground and when complete later this summer will add a total of 104 beds to campus housing. The complexes will be primarily for upperclassmen.
Two of the three new buildings will be part of an area of campus named Brinsfield Row. Three townhouse buildings, which contain either 32 or 64 beds, were built earlier this decade and front Magnolia Ave. The two new buildings will each contain 32 beds and be mirror images of the current buildings, located behind them on new property recently acquired by the university. The design of Brinsfield Row is one of the more popular styles of housing among Lee students, allowing a level of independent living while still being a part of campus. Brinsfield Row was named in honor of former Lee College president J. Stewart Brinsfield, who served from 1948-51 following the college’s relocation to Cleveland, Tennessee from Sevierville, Tennessee.
Groundbreaking for a third 40-bed unit took place earlier this week on the opposite side of campus on 8th Street near two other apartment-style residence halls.
Construction of student housing at Lee University has been on-going nearly every year as enrollment has been on the upswing for more than two decades. Since 1987, Lee University has broken the all-time enrollment record every fall, rising from a new record of 1,534 students in 1987 to the current record number of 4,262 last fall. In that period Lee University has added more than a dozen new housing units in a variety of residential configurations, from traditional dormitories to apartment complexes.
The need for additional housing is even more acute for this coming academic year as plans are in place to raze three-story Hughes Hall in early May. Inner campus development, specifically the construction of a $14 million science and math complex the last two years has surrounded Hughes Hall which was built in 1969 before major campus expansion. The open space created by the removal of Hughes Hall will result in a beautiful quadrant as a centerpiece of campus which will be ready for students when they return this fall.