Cookeville News

[Griz83]

20 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

In 2017 Cookeville broke all its previous records by issuing 430 building permits worth $78.5 million.  In 2018, it issued 505 building permits worth $226.5 million.  While this would be considered small change in Nashville's sphere, this makes Cookeville the fastest-growing construction zone in the state outside of the Nashville MSA.  County Mayor Randy Porter came up with a few collages of some of the larger projects completed or started in 2018:

 

Some of the bigger things coming up in 2019:

• Shopping center (Food City?) on 10th Street @ Hwy 111.
• Shopping center (another Food City?) on Hwy 70 in Baxter.
• Entertainment complex (bumper cars, laser tag, bowling, etc.) on Walnut Ave behind Publix.
• New police headquarters.
• New elementary school.
• Holiday Inn on Willow Ave.
• Hilton hotel/conference center downtown (this one has been taking its own sweet, aggravating time).
• Downtown parking garage.
• $150 million ceramics factory in Baxter.
• Continued expansion of SAIC's cybersecurity technology gateway in downtown Cookeville
• Oculus Software's new facility in the Highlands Business Park
• Colorobbia's new labs in the Highlands Business Park

It is quite amazing that all of this is going on in Cookeville.  That doesn't even count the flurry of construction going on at the TTU campus!  Still no Target, though.  I guess they...

.......

.........missed.

[jmtunafish]

Cookeville beat out Columbia SC, Branson MO, and Hot Springs AR to host the inaugural Pan-American Kayak Bass Fishing Championship.  The participants will be coming from across the Western Hemisphere to spend four days at the end of May on Cookeville area lakes and rivers.  The competition is by invitation only.  Representatives from the Fédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive will also be on hand to possibly make kayak bass fishing a world champion-level sport.

 “Cookeville is a world-class destination and the perfect place to showcase our state’s warm hospitality and incredible natural resources, including the lakes, rivers and streams unique to our Upper Cumberland,” said Commissioner Mark Ezell, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. “This is a tremendous win for Tennessee, and we know Putnam County will set a high standard for visitors who want to return year after year.”

 “Cookeville and Center Hill Lake quickly became the clear choice to host this historic event,” said Tony Forte, U.S. Angling founder and USA Bass president. “Kayak fishing is exploding worldwide and the Pan-American Sportfishing Federation felt it was time to make it an official sport.

http://herald-citizen.com/stories/city-to-host-kayak-bass-championship,33080

[CenterHill]

^^  Very cool.    I bought a new fishing kayak last summer.   I’ll be checking the mail for my invitation!   

[BnaBreaker]

That's an extremely specific sport!

[jmtunafish]

Cookeville named Tennessee's "Greenest City"

To find the most environmentally-conscious cities by state, data scientists at Insurify used a combination of proprietary automotive data and external sources. To begin, Insurify analyzed its database of over 1.6 million car insurance applications to rank each state’s cities by their collective vehicular carbon footprint.

The scoring algorithm factored in fuel-efficiency, engine displacement, drivetrain, annual mileage, and vehicles per household to identify the top five cities per state for greenest drivers. Following this, the data team added scoring boosts in accordance with statistics on citywide renewable electricity programs, park quality, urban sprawl, and air quality index to determine the number one most eco-friendly city in each state. 

https://insurify.com/insights/insurifys-greenest-cities-awards-2019/?fbclid=IwAR1n7kxGVEpYwZWV9JumHqGft-OS4N7LaOEjw2dtL0krdPWt9vUULCcOl7Q

Edited March 25, 2019 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

Preliminary plans have been revealed for Cookeville's new police HQ which, unfortunately, won't be located downtown but rather on Neal Street across from the local Vol State campus.  Cookeville's current police HQ is in the basement of the performing arts center downtown and was built when Cookeville's population was about 1/3 what it is today.

The current police station courtesy of Google Street View (circled in blue):

 

The new police station which should get started later this summer:

[memphian]

It looks nice and I am sure the Drama Center will enjoy the extra room should they get to use it.

[jmtunafish]

The Cookeville micropolitan area was the 9th highest-gaining in the country last year according to the Census Bureau.

The top 10:

micropolitan area...2018 population...1-year increase

1. Bozeman MT...111,876...3,220
2. Jefferson GA...70,422...2,706 (part of Atlanta CSA)
3. Kalispell MT...102,106...2,014
4. Dunn NC...134,214...1,985 (part of Raleigh-Durham CSA)
5. Williston ND...35,350...1,955
6. Cedar City UT...52,775...1,953
7. Fernley NV...55,808...1,893 (part of Reno CSA)
8. Shelton WA...65,507...1,706 (part of Seattle-Tacoma CSA)
9. Cookeville...112,669...1,636
10. Moses Lake WA...97,331...1,510

[jmtunafish]

There's a lot of progress on Tennessee Tech's two largest construction projects, both scheduled to open in 2020.  The new student fitness center:

 

The new laboratory sciences building:

 

Meanwhile, Governor Lee has proposed a 10.4 percent increase in funding for TTU in his state budget, the largest increase among Tennessee's publicly funded universities and colleges.  Included is $3 million towards planning for a new $55 million engineering building.

https://www.ucbjournal.com/governor-proposes-nearly-60-million-for-tech-shows-confidence-in-tech/

[memphian]

Wow! The Rec/Fit center is quite large. I really need to get up that way soon. I meant to go to the International SAE Baja Competition but the rain kept me away.

[tragenvol]

23 hours ago, memphian said:

Wow! The Rec/Fit center is quite large. I really need to get up that way soon. I meant to go to the International SAE Baja Competition but the rain kept me away.

Come on the weekend, or plan to walk from the outskirts.  Kidding...not kidding.

[jmtunafish]

There are a couple of new housing developments in Cookeville that I really like.   Both are supposed to be like "new urbanism" neighborhoods, (throwback to "traditional" neighborhoods) designed to encourage residents to know their neighbors:  front porches, back porches, sidewalks, parking in the streets and on parking pads (no garages), etc.  This first one is being built just a few hundred feet from the courthouse and overlooks the 1930's-era Belle Acres Golf Course which means residents can walk to downtown, to downtown parks, and of course to the adjacent golf course.

 

This next one is being built where an old trailer park used to be.  I think when it's all said and done there will be 52 houses where there used to be 28 run-down mobile homes on 11 acres.  The homes are designed by Nashville-based Lynn Taylor of Taylor Made Designs.

 

[jmtunafish]

Updates on the two largest projects at Tennessee Tech.

The laboratory sciences building:

 

The student fitness center:

 

 

[jmtunafish]

Here's a rendering of a small office building under construction in downtown Cookeville at the corner of 1st and Oak next to Middle Tennessee Federal Credit Union and catty-corner from India Palace.

[jmtunafish]

The little town of Monterey in eastern Putnam County got some love as Cookeville-based BPC Corp went back to its roots to build its new operations center.  Founded originally as Bank of Monterey in 1901, BPC now has branches in 9 counties and is bringing a few dozen new, high paying jobs to little Monterey.  They saved the façade of the original Bank of Monterey building as well as the entire 1960s-era bank branch and demolished the rest of the block, building what I consider to be a very attractive building which blends in nicely with the rest of the small town.  The development also includes some apartments.

What the block looked like before construction:

 

During construction:

 

And what the block looks like now:

 

Edited August 21, 2019 by jmtunafish

[21jump]

^That's awesome!

[jmtunafish]

Not really "development" news, but still something that's adding to the quality of life in Cookeville and that's showcasing local artists.  Downtown Cookeville's WestSide Business Association contracted with a couple of local artists to design benches for that part of downtown.  Metal artist Abraham Pardee, originally from Knoxville but now with his studio in Sparta, designed a bench located on Cedar Avenue next to Father Tom's Pub, and mixed media artist David George Fricke, who's originally from Memphis but now has his studio in Cookeville, designed the bench located next to the depot museum.  According to the association, more of these type things will be coming to downtown.  Fricke also designed the steel arch called Spokes which marks the beginning of the paved bike trail that connects downtown Cookeville to downtown Algood.

"Spokes"

 

Edited August 30, 2019 by jmtunafish

[LA_TN]

I'll toss in a few pics from a few weeks ago...

 

[jmtunafish]

Great pictures!

[jmtunafish]

HGTV's House Hunters has filmed an episode in Cookeville which will air tonight at 9pm Central time.  It's of a couple who sold their home in Los Angeles and moved to Cookeville, seeking lots of space for a growing family.  I'm curious how they'll portray Cookeville:  a hayseed hick town, or an attractive little city.

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hunters/episodes/going-country-in-cookeville

 

The city is updating its pedestrian plan to include a lot more bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city.  We all know how government plans go, but supposedly this will be in place by 2030:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=472cad3e41764335a50b95fd85a86363

 

Another mural has been painted on the side of a building downtown.

 

Some of the others on the same street (Cedar Avenue):

[downtownresident]

2 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

HGTV's House Hunters has filmed an episode in Cookeville which will air tonight at 9pm Central time.  It's of a couple who sold their home in Los Angeles and moved to Cookeville, seeking lots of space for a growing family.  I'm curious how they'll portray Cookeville:  a hayseed hick town, or an attractive little city.

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hunters/episodes/going-country-in-cookeville

 

The city is updating its pedestrian plan to include a lot more bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city.  We all know how government plans go, but supposedly this will be in place by 2030:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=472cad3e41764335a50b95fd85a86363

 

Another mural has been painted on the side of a building downtown.

 

Some of the others on the same street (Cedar Avenue):

HGTV House Hunters typically shows the places they film in a good light. Each episode is almost a commercial for the town it’s filmed in. 

[MLBrumby]

World's largest treehouse burns down in Tennessee

https://fox17.com/news/local/worlds-largest-treehouse-burns-down-in-tennessee

[jmtunafish]

The little town of Algood is adjacent to Cookeville and almost acts like a neighborhood of Cookeville.  They share a ZIP code, phone exchange, and Cookeville provides utilities to Algood.  A paved bike trail connects downtown Cookeville to downtown Algood, and it's only 4 miles long.

In the last few years its population has really started to take off, growing by about 20% in just a couple of years to around 4,500 today (still tiny, I know).  Anyway, the town of Algood recently purchased about 27 acres for a public park, and they've released preliminary plans for what they'd like to include.  For a small town, it's going to be a heck of a park.  It'll also connect to the Cookeville-Algood bike trail.

[Griz83]

When I lived in Cookeville for 6 years, I always used to say that the town slogan should be "It's all good in Algood!"

Glad to see that this "essentially-a-Cookeville-neighborhood" is catching on.

As an aside, Dogwood park is quite nice, too.

[rolly]

That's cool that Cookeville has a suburb. Looks like a dandy place.