Cookeville News

[jmtunafish]

17 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

So sorry for Cookeville... for your loss. Even though your losses in this disaster may be overshadowed somewhat by Nashville's losses... trust that Tennessee will not forget Cookeville. I love your town. Also, we know a family who is searching for their loved ones in Putnam Co.  If you hear of a family named Cutler, please send me a DM. We're all still trying to get word from someone there who knows. 

The count is still at 18 confirmed dead:  13 adults and 5 children.  The list of missing has been pared down to 18.  I haven't seen the name Cutler on any list, so I hope that means your friends are ok.

The amount of help offered has been overwhelming, quite literally.  Putnam County Emergency Management just sent a plea that people stop going to the affected areas because they're creating traffic jams.  I know of over a dozen restaurants and food trucks in town, even a couple of food trucks from out of town, that are offering free food to all those helping in the effort.  The old Hobby Lobby parking lot was filled to capacity this morning with people who showed up ready to help.  Churches are offering free babysitting so adults can go help.   The schools, which are closed the rest of the week, are opening their cafeterias to anyone who needs a hot meal.  The local blood bank had to tell people to stop coming to donate blood because they were overwhelmed, and the wait was over 3 hours.  Tennessee Tech cancelled classes today and encouraged its students to fan out into the community and help in any way they can.  

People ready to help:

 

People lined up to board buses to take them to the affected areas;

 

From last night's candlelight vigil:

 

People lined up to wait 3 hours to give blood:

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by jmtunafish

[MLBrumby]

5 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

The count is still at 18 confirmed dead:  13 adults and 5 children.  The list of missing has been pared down to 18.  I haven't seen the name Cutler on any list, so I hope that means your friends are ok.

Thanks, JMT. We received the sad news today. I only had the daughter's name as that's my wife's connection to her family. They're the Cutler/Kimberlin family, Josh, Erin & 2-year-old Sawyer are presumed dead. 

[downtownresident]

 

[jmtunafish]

5 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Thanks, JMT. We received the sad news today. I only had the daughter's name as that's my wife's connection to her family. They're the Cutler/Kimberlin family, Josh, Erin & 2-year-old Sawyer are presumed dead. 

I am so, so sorry.  I have seen their family picture all over Facebook as being missing.  It was absolutely heartbreaking to find out they didn't make it.  It's times like this when words can't come close to expressing grief.  I am genuinely sorry.

[jmtunafish]

It didn't take long for some in the Nashville media cocoon to show their true colors.  There's a bit of a tempest in a teapot over at 107.5 The River as they discussed why more people were killed by the tornado in Cookeville than in Nashville/Mt Juliet.  It's because, they say, people in Cookevile are less educated and live in trailers or prefabricated homes.  Never mind that this tornado in Cookeville was an F-4 with winds of 175+ mph that swooped down in the middle of the night with almost no warning; cell phone towers west of town had already been knocked down, so many cell phones didn't get the warning in time.  And never mind that the neighborhoods were largely newer build homes, many over 3,000 square feet, all site-built, gentleman farm types.  In fact, I don't know of any mobile homes that were leveled.  107.5 tried to apologize, but of course the apology almost made things worse ("We're sorry you took our comments badly" instead of "We're sorry for being wrong and insensitive.")  

https://1075theriver.iheart.com/content/2020-03-05-tornado-audio-rev/?fbclid=IwAR2u_rYGTS2Jhbtt3lh8IbMsZXMS2NSXsUjzEpMQ_Zmn-0ldFlPi6pR_zCw

 

[tragenvol]

Another case of someone  with a pulpit espousing unverified information...happens everyday....no matter how reckless.  I understand that the show's talent were reporting someone's (not an expert) presumption and apparently chose not to fact check the slightest of information.  Caused a bit of a stir.

Edited March 6, 2020 by tragenvol

[MLBrumby]

2 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

It didn't take long for some in the Nashville media cocoon to show their true colors.  There's a bit of a tempest in a teapot over at 107.5 The River as they discussed why more people were killed by the tornado in Cookeville than in Nashville/Mt Juliet.  It's because, they say, people in Cookevile are less educated and live in trailers or prefabricated homes.  Never mind that this tornado in Cookeville was an F-4 with winds of 175+ mph that swooped down in the middle of the night with almost no warning; cell phone towers west of town had already been knocked down, so many cell phones didn't get the warning in time.  And never mind that the neighborhoods were largely newer build homes, many over 3,000 square feet, all site-built, gentleman farm types.  In fact, I don't know of any mobile homes that were leveled.  107.5 tried to apologize, but of course the apology almost made things worse ("We're sorry you took our comments badly" instead of "We're sorry for being wrong and insensitive.")  

https://1075theriver.iheart.com/content/2020-03-05-tornado-audio-rev/?fbclid=IwAR2u_rYGTS2Jhbtt3lh8IbMsZXMS2NSXsUjzEpMQ_Zmn-0ldFlPi6pR_zCw

 

Sounds like the folks at 107.5 are the ones uneducated. You're exactly right about it being a stronger tornado... what an idiotic topic to discuss, not to mention completely insensitive. 

[Tennessine]

8 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Sounds like the folks at 107.5 are the ones uneducated. You're exactly right about it being a stronger tornado... what an idiotic topic to discuss, not to mention completely insensitive. 

Yuck. It's probably the kind of music they play on 107.5 that made those DJs insensitive and ignorant.

If all you broadcast is mass-produced tripe void of any musical talent, it's gonna dumb you down. Sh1t like Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber is for middle schoolers

[tragenvol]

On 11/8/2019 at 9:20 AM, jmtunafish said:

Members of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission voted today to approve capital projects recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year, and Tennessee Tech’s new $55 million engineering building topped the list.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, each year Tech awards nearly a quarter of all the engineering and computer science degrees from Tennessee’s nine public universities.

The proposed 100,000-square-foot engineering building is a student-centered, interdisciplinary space used by all departments in the College of Engineering, which comprises more than 25% of Tech’s students.

Over that last 10 years, enrollment in the College of Engineering has grown 52%, which has resulted in a space shortage that this building will help alleviate and give room to meet projected growth.

Read more here:
https://www.tntech.edu/news/releases/19-20/new-engineering-building-top-priority-thec-capital-projects.php?fbclid=IwAR2i5sAcwF7ooxSF3bkcMD0L4UGBNQBBcQ-acj_prMOPgmO3KSGYtNfVuNE

The Governor's amended budget has removed all Capital Outlay for FY 20-21; therefore, this project will not go forward as initially planned.  The amended budget will have to receive approval from the Legislature, but it appears that this legislative session will be fast tracked for early dismissal due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

[jmtunafish]

1 hour ago, tragenvol said:

The Governor's amended budget has removed all Capital Outlay for FY 20-21; therefore, this project will not go forward as initially planned.  The amended budget will have to receive approval from the Legislature, but it appears that this legislative session will be fast tracked for early dismissal due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Yeah, I guess this shouldn't be surprising.  State-wide teacher pay raises are also on hold this year as the governor hopes to funnel a lot of money towards the coronavirus battle.  I don't blame him.  Difficult times call for difficult choices.

[jmtunafish]

According to Census Bureau estimates, the Cookeville micropolitan area was the 7th highest-gaining in the US in 2019.  This is the third year in a row that Cookeville has been among the 10 highest-gaining micropolitan areas, coming in at 9th in 2018 and 8th in 2017.  Here's a screenshot of the table of the highest-gaining micropolitan areas.  Interestingly, Cookeville comes in at 5th for net migration and 1st for international migration.

[BnaBreaker]

Very impressive growth... Cookeville is the 11th largest micropolitan area in the country that stands alone and isn't a part of a larger city's CSA.

[jmtunafish]

On 3/26/2020 at 1:25 PM, BnaBreaker said:

Very impressive growth... Cookeville is the 11th largest micropolitan area in the country that stands alone and isn't a part of a larger city's CSA.

Cookeville was well on its way to becoming a metropolitan area after this next census, but I'm afraid this coronavirus mess is probably going to put a stop to that.  College towns all over the country will be affected by this, as most colleges have gone to all on-line courses the rest of the semester, meaning most college students have gone home.  This means there are several thousand residents of Cookeville who would've been counted in this census who now won't be counted.  In the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal, but since the next chance to become a metropolitan area (and get all the additional federal funds that accompany it) won't happen for another 10 years, this can be seen as quite a big deal.

[tragenvol]

On 3/27/2020 at 4:44 PM, jmtunafish said:

Cookeville was well on its way to becoming a metropolitan area after this next census, but I'm afraid this coronavirus mess is probably going to put a stop to that.  College towns all over the country will be affected by this, as most colleges have gone to all on-line courses the rest of the semester, meaning most college students have gone home.  This means there are several thousand residents of Cookeville who would've been counted in this census who now won't be counted.  In the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal, but since the next chance to become a metropolitan area (and get all the additional federal funds that accompany it) won't happen for another 10 years, this can be seen as quite a big deal.

@jmtunafish I know you mine a lot of data from the Census Bureau....questions follow:

Doesn't a city need to have 50,000 residents to be considered a metropolitan area?  Wasn't Cookeville's population estimated in 2018 at just over 34K? 

One TTU Residential Life article I recently read stated that approximately 75% of TECH students live off campus.  A lot of those commuting students have jobs and rent in the city; so, I would think that although they are now distance students rather than commuter students, that most must still maintain their residences and remain in town.

Dorm students:  would they be counted as Cookeville's citizens; historically, I thought would not?

I'm not sure the current emergency (there were tornado sirens again early this morning...my family and I went to our safe place at 2:30 am) will have a dramatic effect on Cookeville's census this year.  I would think that the micropolitan area currently near 110K would get to 125K well before Cookeville hits 50K.

[jmtunafish]

46 minutes ago, tragenvol said:

@jmtunafish I know you mine a lot of data from the Census Bureau....questions follow:

Doesn't a city need to have 50,000 residents to be considered a metropolitan area?  Wasn't Cookeville's population estimated in 2018 at just over 34K? 

One TTU Residential Life article I recently read stated that approximately 75% of TECH students live off campus.  A lot of those commuting students have jobs and rent in the city; so, I would think that although they are now distance students rather than commuter students, that most must still maintain their residences and remain in town.

Dorm students:  would they be counted as Cookeville's citizens; historically, I thought would not?

I'm not sure the current emergency (there were tornado sirens again early this morning...my family and I went to our safe place at 2:30 am) will have a dramatic effect on Cookeville's census this year.  I would think that the micropolitan area currently near 110K would get to 125K well before Cookeville hits 50K.

A metropolitan area needs a core urban area of 50,000, not a city of 50,000.  Morristown, for example, in 2010 had a smaller city population than Cookeville (29,137 vs. 30,435) yet it's a metropolitan area while Cookeville is a micropolitan area because Morristown's urban population in 2010 was 59,036 while Cookeville's was 44,207.  A census tract is considered urban, I think, if it has 1000 per square mile inside a city and 500 per square mile outside a city.  String together contiguous census tracts to create an urban area.  In Cookeville's case, its urban area, as defined in 2010, includes Cookeville, Algood, part of Baxter, and areas in between.  It even extends into northern White County near the airport.  Since this map was created, there have been several thousand new housing units built, so Cookeville's urban area should pass the 50,000 threshold after this next census.  And I agree, the tornado damage will have a small effect, as even those whose homes were completely destroyed are likely still in the area.

And yes, dorm students are included.  I read this morning that the Census Bureau is helping college towns make sure that college students are counted, particularly with the coronavirus mess.  Colleges are responsible for reporting to the Census Bureau how many students live in group quarters (dorms), so that won't change, even though college dorms will be pretty much empty on April 1.  What has changed is that many college students have left their college towns and moved home since they can finish the semester online, and the Census Bureau is working with colleges to encourage those students to still count their college towns as their official addresses for the purpose of the census.  But as you pointed out, in many cases college students have chosen to live in their college town year-round where they have jobs/friends/social life.  I think this has increased in the last few years.  I know when I was in college 30 years ago, the thing to do was to go home every summer.  One summer I chose to stay and work, and everyone thought I was nuts.  I loved it because it was like I had the whole town to myself.  These days, it's much less unusual to do that.  I mean, in college towns like Cookeville and even Knoxville there's noticeably less traffic in the summer as many college students have gone home, but it's not like it used to be where college towns became ghost towns every summer.

At any rate, the point of all that is I'm much more optimistic that the coronavirus mess won't be as detrimental to college towns' populations as I thought a few days ago.

[tragenvol]

Good stuff.

[MLBrumby]

Just filled out our census online... deadline is April 1.  Make sure your friends and family do it and spread word. Read today that census takers will not be going door to door. 

[tragenvol]

Completed ours as well earlier this morning.

[jmtunafish]

Not really development news, but some new public art has been placed around Cookeville, all of them made using old bicycle parts by six local artists.

As a reminder, here's the original sculpture which started it all.  This is at the beginning/end of a 4-mile trail that connects downtown Cookeville and downtown Algood.

 

And now a bike rack, called "Banjo," next to the arch:

 

A bike sculpture and weather vane along the trail:

 

At Cane Creek Park, another bike rack.  This one is called the "Tommy Thomas" and has a drum behind the seat in honor of a jazz drummer named Tommy Thomas who retired in Cookeville and rode his bike all over town.  The 2-mile bike path that connects Cane Creek Park to Willow Ave is called the Tommy Thomas Memorial Bike Trail.

 

And a couple of sculptures made entirely out of bicycle parts:

Edited April 23, 2020 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

Construction projects in Cookeville have continued throughout this coronavirus mess.  Here are some of the larger ones around town.

Hörmann factory (German garage door company) which should be opening soon.

 

Holiday Inn on Willow

 

McAlister's (formerly Ruby Tuesday)

 

An office building downtown

 

A medical clinic of some sort on Neal Street with another one under construction in the background.

 

Gabe's, located where Hobby Lobby used to be before HL and HomeGoods took over the old Sears building.

 

And there's a bunch of infill housing developments around town.  I'm including Google Streetviews of what the lots looked like before being redeveloped.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1755119,-85.49004,3a,75y,152.07h,83.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_peOHoNYHjX6csY6giA30Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1544716,-85.4793109,3a,75y,351.2h,91.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shW8IqxXQC9nzUWUzURQY1Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1936558,-85.5101922,3a,75y,282.12h,95.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sz5GEYfYmmrjZhR8RBvMNKg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1689907,-85.5143664,3a,75y,170.42h,83.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGb-njbQ9HYWgs89G39kP7w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1804932,-85.5088741,3a,75y,142.88h,87.04t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s326bGb5w75joxfhdzVkPbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1655133,-85.5142949,3a,37.5y,65.14h,89.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMGFKvR-7sw2B7XLCkU5Vgw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1918931,-85.4924182,3a,75y,73.2h,81.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp3srVryK0eFMc4aMB4EdPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1810883,-85.452985,3a,75y,190.41h,94.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8vBgOLSYv7oMQy2z9NEGiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1493782,-85.4680787,3a,37.5y,326.59h,91.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1D5BQGi9Oj1i67QawpsQIg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.098219,-85.5005047,3a,75y,56.03h,93.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0AFk5tZ-pW2eoh_yB-t6Yw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.162549,-85.4908325,3a,75y,136.14h,98.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sxTcs_lLpJj3JERyyn7jwAg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1966007,-85.4966337,3a,75y,250.01h,84.48t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1saK4UyK3RfMBH-kGpXq5S4w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[jmtunafish]

A few months ago a decrepit old building in downtown Cookeville was torn down after it was deemed too far gone to renovate.  It was originally built as a hardware store over 100 years ago and is located on Cedar Ave adjacent to the railroad tracks and the bike trail that connects downtown Cookeville to downtown Algood.  I was over there yesterday and saw a sign that's been posted with a rendering of what's planned for that lot.  For a small town like Cookeville, it's a big step up.  That part of downtown has blossomed in recent years with several popular restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries, and the city is in the process of improving Cedar Ave by adding bike lanes, better sidewalks, buried utilities, etc. 

Here's the original building.  In this picture you can see bike trail in front of the building, the top couple of floors of the hospital off in the distance on the left, and at the end of Cedar Avenue straight ahead you can see dorms for Tennessee Tech.

 

And here's what's planned.  The blank gray wall on the other side of the lot is some public storage buildings which are going to be torn down soon to make way for more parking.

[jmtunafish]

TTI Flooring, the parent company of Hoover, Dirt Devil, Oreck, Ryobi and Milwaukee Tools, announced today that it is going to add 500 more jobs at its Cookeville plant which TTI acquired from Oreck in 2013 after Oreck filed for bankruptcy.  Oreck had moved its factory from Mississippi to Cookeville and its HQ from New Orleans to Nashville after Hurricane Katrina.  TTI, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, currently employs 400 at its Cookeville factory and will spend $20 million to get the plant fitted to accommodate the new products which, so far, haven't been revealed.  The city's industrial development board is granting some financial incentives to TTI for this expansion, but if the promised 500 jobs aren't reached, TTI will have to refund those incentives to the city.

https://newstalk941.com/tti-floor-care-adding-500-jobs/

Edited June 25, 2020 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

Some updates on construction projects around Cookeville.

A new shopping center anchored by Food City has been announced and approved for the corner of 10th Street and Old Kentucky Road.  It's roughly the area in yellow:

The city will widen 10th St to 5 lanes (in red) while the shopping center developers will widen the part in blue.  This will be Food City's first location in Middle Tennessee, and I'm sure they'll keep expanding west into the Nashville area.  The president of Food City said the Cookeville store will be one of the company's largest (54,000 sq ft) and nicest, with a Starbucks, brick oven pizzeria, and café.

 

Aphena Pharma Solutions, a home-grown company that currently employs 400 in Cookeville, has bought the old Russell Stover building and is adding another 200 jobs.  Being an old candy factory, the building is already FDA-approved which will allow Aphena to enter the market of biologics.

https://www.ucbjournal.com/aphena-announces-27-million-expansion-new-headquarters/

 

Work has finally started on Cookeville's police HQ.  This will be the first time the Cookeville police department will be in their own facility.  Right now they're in the basement of the performing arts center, and prior to that they were in a part of city hall.  It's located on Neal Street @ Old Walton Road.

 

A mosque is being built between downtown and TTU.  Right now they meet in a small house just north of campus.

 

Construction has started on a mixed-use building at the corner of Cedar and Broad, bordered on the south by the railroad and the bike/walking trail that connects downtown Cookeville to downtown Algood.

 

Another Starbucks is coming to town, this one in front of Staples at the corner of Willow and Jackson.

 

Meanwhile, at Tennessee Tech, the new student fitness center is finished and open for business.

And the new laboratory sciences building is almost finished.  Part is already being used for classes.  It's being built on what used to be a vast parking lot.  What's left of the old parking lot is being made into a lawn.

 

Plans for the new 100,000 square foot engineering building were revealed last week.  Covid put a stop to its funding for this year, but it's at the top of THEC's list for next year.  TTU officials said they're ready to break ground as soon as the state approves funding.  In addition, a new residence hall for 300 students will be built west of this building.  Modeled after the University of Florida's Infinity Hall, the new dorm will have space for innovation and entrepreneurship activities.

Edited October 5, 2020 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

With Brazil slogging through its own covid mess, this project has taken longer to get off the ground than originally planned.  But this week they put up this sign and have leased office space in Cookeville, so it's still on track.  The $150 million factory will be on the south side of I-40 just next to Exit 280 (Baxter/Gainesboro).  No word yet on when groundbreaking will take place.  Portobello is a Brazilian tile company that's setting up its North American HQ and manufacturing facility on about 90 acres in Baxter which is about 2-3 miles from the Cookeville city limits.

Edited November 6, 2020 by jmtunafish

[markhollin]

Hilton Garden Inn (5 stories, 130 units?) renderings for new Cookeville location: