Cookeville News

[jmtunafish]

2 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Is there any update on the Auxin hotel/conference center?  From the looks of that Wilson plant, it would make a great adaptive reuse project. Does anyone have any info if that will be the case/ 

I keep waiting for some renderings, but so far all they've said is that it'll be a 120-room hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space, and that they'll have their plans in place sometime this spring.  My connection at the local paper said it's going to be a Hilton Garden Inn.  I don't know how much of the old Wilson plant they'll use.  Much of the old Wilson plant has already been repurposed:  a laser tag place, a Chinese grocery store, and I'm not sure what all else.

Edited February 15, 2017 by jmtunafish

[rbowman]

Ralph's donuts are as good as it gets!

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[jmtunafish]

4 hours ago, rbowman said:

Ralph's donuts are as good as it gets!

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You got that right!  I almost feel sorry for Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.

[tragenvol]

11 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

You got that right!  I almost feel sorry for Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.

You shouldn't feel sorry for DD, check their drivethru lines each morning.  Feel sorry for those of us waiting on DD coffee.  Again, Big O's tops Ralph's...although a minority opinion, others share this position. 

[titanhog]

22 minutes ago, tragenvol said:

You shouldn't feel sorry for DD, check their drivethru lines each morning.  Feel sorry for those of us waiting on DD coffee.  Again, Big O's tops Ralph's...although a minority opinion, others share this position. 

[Griz83]

Eh, Ralph's is better than Big-Os for my money.  My wife and I met at TTU.  It's a great town; and we'd move back.  So much to do both in town and so much natural beauty just outside of town.

[rbowman]

I pick Ralph's over Big O's too, but I certainly would not turn down a donut from either place if offered.

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[jmtunafish]

44 minutes ago, tragenvol said:

You shouldn't feel sorry for DD, check their drivethru lines each morning.  Feel sorry for those of us waiting on DD coffee.  Again, Big O's tops Ralph's...although a minority opinion, others share this position. 

I do like Big O's monster cinnamon rolls.

 

Otherwise, there's no comparison for me, particularly their cake doughnuts.  And I don't know what they do to their chocolate icing (opium maybe?) but it's addictive.  A Ralph's butter twist dipped in their chocolate icing makes me weak in the knees.  But the one doughnut they have which makes me forego the need for female companionship is their red velvet with cream cheese icing.

[jmtunafish]

29 minutes ago, Griz83 said:

Eh, Ralph's is better than Big-Os for my money.  My wife and I met at TTU.  It's a great town; and we'd move back.  So much to do both in town and so much natural beauty just outside of town.

I moved from Knoxville to the Cookeville area 3.5 years ago and am glad I did.  It really is a great town, and the area is beautiful.  I like that it's growing at a healthy clip but not crazy fast growth that outpaces the infrastructure.  I like that it's compact, meaning they've done a good job keeping everything in or just outside of downtown.  My mother, who's still stuck in Knoxville, should be moving to Cookeville in the next few months.  She can live in a luxurious and affordable condo in the middle of town and never have to drive more than a mile to run any of her errands, and without traffic.  Or, she can even take the bus; I think Cookeville is the smallest town in Tennessee to have its own transit system (free for children and Tech students, $1 for everyone else).  It's got a professional symphony and a university symphony, professional theater and college theater, children's theater, children's library, children's museum, wonderful local restaurants, art galleries, and very good schools.  It's got its earthy granola element but not roll-your-eyes insufferable like Asheville. 

And like you said, the natural beauty of the area is unbelievable.  The state is opening another state park just outside of Cookeville later this spring, Window Cliffs.

http://herald-citizen.com/stories/newest-state-park-slated-to-open-in-april,19266?

Window Cliffs images:

 

 

[PruneTracy]

36 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

Or, she can even take the bus; I think Cookeville is the smallest town in Tennessee to have its own transit system (free for children and Tech students, $1 for everyone else).

Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Bristol are all smaller, though they also all have their own qualifications attached.

[jmtunafish]

32 minutes ago, PruneTracy said:

Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Bristol are all smaller, though they also all have their own qualifications attached.

Ugh  That web site doesn't even have the Cookeville fixed-route system listed.  But yes, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are smaller than Cookeville but of course have millions of visitors per year.  And while technically Bristol TN is smaller, its bus network is apparently shared with Bristol VA.  And now that I see that web site you posted, Oak Ridge is also smaller than Cookeville but has its own transit system.  So I retract what I posted earlier:  Cookeville is not the smallest town in Tennessee to have its own fixed-route transit system.

http://www.uchra.com/cats/

Edited February 16, 2017 by jmtunafish

[PruneTracy]

10 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

Ugh  That web site doesn't even have the Cookeville fixed-route system listed.  But yes, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are smaller than Cookeville but of course have millions of visitors per year.  And while technically Bristol TN is smaller, its bus network is apparently shared with Bristol VA.  And now that I see that web site you posted, Oak Ridge is also smaller than Cookeville but has its own transit system.  So I retract what I posted earlier:  Cookeville is not the smallest town in Tennessee to have its own fixed-route transit system.

Oak Ridge doesn't count; it's all paratransit. But you're right, taking away the uniqueness of the Sevier County corridor and systems shared with other states, Cookeville is the smallest and definitely punching above their weight when it comes to transit.

If I'm honest, I have a hard time thinking of Gatlinburg's and Pigeon Forge's systems as actual transit systems anyway. (It would help if Pigeon Forge didn't call theirs the Fun Time Trolley.) But I'm told there are days when just one or the other are carrying more passengers than any other system in the state, including Nashville MTA and MATA.

[timmay143]

I'd love to go back and teach in the mechanical engineering department one day.  A lot bang for your buck in Cookeville.  Especially these days.

[memphian]

42 minutes ago, timmay143 said:

I'd love to go back and teach in the mechanical engineering department one day.  A lot bang for your buck in Cookeville.  Especially these days.

I hear you! I am starting my PhD next year and I really need TECH to pick up my area of study. LOL

[Griz83]

4 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

And like you said, the natural beauty of the area is unbelievable.  The state is opening another state park just outside of Cookeville later this spring, Window Cliffs.

http://herald-citizen.com/stories/newest-state-park-slated-to-open-in-april,19266?

Window Cliffs images:

Very cool that Window Cliffs is going to be a State Park!  I've been there on a geology field trip (that was my area of study).  Although, I think it was still private property when we went.  I KNOW we parked on private property!  Cummins Falls (also wasn't a State Park when I was there!), Burgess Falls and Waterloo are very close.  Edgar Evins, Rock Island, Fall Creek Falls, Standing Stone, and even Savage Gulf and Big South Fork are not that far away.  There are also a host of caves around the area.

As you said, the town itself has a ton of stuff packed into a relatively small area as well.

[jmtunafish]

6 hours ago, Griz83 said:

Very cool that Window Cliffs is going to be a State Park!  I've been there on a geology field trip (that was my area of study).  Although, I think it was still private property when we went.  I KNOW we parked on private property!  Cummins Falls (also wasn't a State Park when I was there!), Burgess Falls and Waterloo are very close.  Edgar Evins, Rock Island, Fall Creek Falls, Standing Stone, and even Savage Gulf and Big South Fork are not that far away.  There are also a host of caves around the area.

As you said, the town itself has a ton of stuff packed into a relatively small area as well.

Small world!  A good friend of mine teaches geology at Tech.  He probably knows more caves in the area than anyone.  He hosts some workshops during Cookeville's annual, four-day Nature Fest.  http://www.naturefestcookeville.com/

Anyway, I'm very excited about Window Cliffs becoming a state park.  The state's been working hard at getting the trails dug and the parking lot graded.  I think they're shooting for an April grand opening.

Another jewel in the area is Virgin Falls just outside of Sparta.  It's a 9-mile round-trip hike to the falls, but it's well worth it.  The trail takes you past several caves and smaller falls before getting to Virgin Falls, so named because it emerges from an underground stream, plunges 110 feet, and disappears again into another underground stream.  It is a site to behold.

Sadly, Waterloo Falls is still on private property, but I don't think that stops anyone from going.  It's popular with kayakers.  I hope the state purchases it in the near future, too.

There's also Fancher Falls which is accessible only by canoe/kayak from Center Hill Lake.  It's just around the corner from the Cookeville Boat Dock.

Waterloo Falls:

 

Cummins Falls:

 

Virgin Falls:

 

Fancher Falls:

 

And the grande dame of the Cookeville-area falls, Burgess Falls:

 

[Nashtitans]

Random fact but Tennessee has the most caves in the country

[tragenvol]

Related to the new Window Cliffs State Park:

http://herald-citizen.com/stories/beer-permit-issued-for-cafe-near-parks,19803

You could get a local Dad Bod IPA and a fried bologna sandwich.

[jmtunafish]

Tennessee Tech has released some images and more details of its larger construction projects coming up this year.

The new fitness center with construction starting sometime this spring.  It will be located on the northeast corner of Willow and 7th.

 

The new science building, construction to start this fall.  It will be located where there's currently a parking lot just north of Capital Quad and west of the old Memorial Gym.

 

Jere Whitson Hall renovation

Renovations to Jere Whitson Hall will transform the historic building into the campus visitor and welcome center, as well as serve as a one-stop shop for students. The renovated space will include the following offices: admissions, financial aid, advisement, academic services, records and registration and military and veteran affairs.

Golden Eagle Golf Club

One of only a handful of universities with its own golf course, the Golden Eagle Golf Club (formerly the Cookeville Country Club) hopes to expand its footprint so it can host championship tournaments.

Edited April 2, 2017 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

Governor Haslam is in Cookeville right now along with the state economic development commissioner and officials from Science Application International Corporation to announce SAIC is building a "Technology Integration Gateway" in Cookeville, bringing 300 high-paying jobs to town.  These are jobs in IT, computer programming, engineering, software development, cyber security, and data science expertise. They're putting the jobs in the Regions Bank building in downtown Cookeville.  SAIC already employs 600 in Tennessee, mainly in Oak Ridge, which means this is quite a coup for Cookeville that SAIC is choosing to put these jobs in Cookeville instead of its Oak Ridge campus.

http://ucbjournal.com/project-bottle-to-bring-300-new-jobs-to-cookeville/

[jmtunafish]

Aphena Pharma Solutions is spending $7 million to add on to its Cookeville facility and will double its Cookeville workforce with 150 new jobs.

http://ucbjournal.com/aphena-to-double-cookeville-facility/

[tragenvol]

On 3/28/2017 at 8:37 PM, jmtunafish said:

Tennessee Tech has released some images and more details of its larger construction projects coming up this year.

The new fitness center with construction starting sometime this spring.  It will be located on the northeast corner of Willow and 7th.

 

 

 

 

 

Had a meeting this morning (regarding another project) with a P.E. from the designer of this building; neat insight....cool building.

[jmtunafish]

9 hours ago, tragenvol said:

Had a meeting this morning (regarding another project) with a P.E. from the designer of this building; neat insight....cool building.

I can't wait to see this building start to rise.  It looks really cool.

[jmtunafish]

We finally have renderings of the $35 million hotel/conference center headed for downtown Cookeville where the old Wilson sporting goods factory used to be, across the street from the Depot.  There are a few more hurdles to jump over, but nothing too complicated.  The hotel will have 125 rooms with a 22,500 square foot conference center, a 5-story parking garage, and retail and restaurant space.  While this isn't my ideal design, it's certainly doable for Cookeville and a big improvement over the gravel parking lot and abandoned factory that are there right now.  With SAIC already ramping up its operation in downtown Cookeville, downtown Cookeville desperately needs more parking, more restaurants, and more retail.  I don't know how they know this, but the head of Cookeville's downtown business association said that Franklin is the only town in Tennessee with a lower downtown vacancy rate than Cookeville.  Anyway, here are the renderings.  And for those familiar with Cookeville, Ralph's Doughnuts is on the other side of the proposed parking garage.

 

And here's what's on that site now:

Edited September 18, 2017 by jmtunafish

[memphian]

I like it! This will add a great deal of extra life to Downtown Cookeville. It could also spur more development.