51社区

Issue: Summer 2015 | Posted: June 8, 2015

Moving Forward

This year marks the 40th anniversary of 51社区's historic move from downtown Jackson to the North side

By Mary Watson

The old campus in downtown Jackson had weathered nearly 150 years. Students had filled its classrooms and laboratories since before the Civil War. Young people were educated and inspired, careers forged, lifetime friendships born and spouses met. Students loved it, but the sands of time were running out for the aging and landlocked campus.

Repairs and new construction were needed. The price of properties adjacent to the campus inflated with talk of expansion. In addition, security issues became more of a concern. The University looked for solutions throughout the 1960s.

鈥淲e were well past the saturation point as far as facilities,鈥� said Bob Agee, vice president for institutional advancement. In the early 1970s Agee was a Union trustee who joined the Union faculty after the move. 鈥淭here was no more land to be acquired. We faced the decision, what do we tear down and replace? And was that good stewardship?鈥�

Plot plan for new campus (click to enlarge)

New Location

After years of assessing its goals and options, Union purchased a site along the recently completed Highway 45 Bypass in September 1968 under the leadership of President Robert Craig. The property included land from Country Club Lane to Oil Well Road, bordered on the west by Walker Road. Union also acquired another tract of about 80 acres, known as Spragins Peach Orchard, east of the bypass.

The University designated the west tract between Country Club and Channing Way for the campus. The faculty used the land north of this to raise gardens for their families during the early years, Agee said. Plans for the new facilities began to escalate.

Robert Craig, Union's 13th President

鈥淓veryone thought (Craig) was out of his mind to try to lead the campus out to where it鈥檚 located, because at that time nothing really was there,鈥� said Larry Murphy (鈥�79), executive director of the Madison-Chester and Crockett Baptist associations. 鈥淏ut there was the understanding, the knowledge of some planners that everything was coming this direction. Dr. Craig saw the opportunity to buy property and have Union located right in the middle of everything.鈥�

Then, in the fall of 1973, an unexpected offer to relocate Union in Memphis instead of Jackson stalled the momentum. After much discussion, a vote by the trustees and consideration by the Tennessee Baptist Convention, the offer was rescinded and the plans for the Jackson campus proceeded.

On May 7, 1974, the new campus site was dedicated and ground was broken.

Initial Plans for Penick Academic Complex (click to enlarge)

New Academic Complex

The initial design for the campus was for a multi-building complex. 鈥淚t probably looked a little like what the Great Lawn does now with the newer buildings,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淏ut when the plans were let out for bids in early 1974, building costs had sky-rocketed, and it was not possible financially to build multiple buildings.鈥�

Union鈥檚 architect found a large community college in St. Louis that had won an award for a 鈥渕all concept鈥� facility. 鈥淚t was determined that with the funds we had and that the feasibility studies indicated that we could raise, it seemed to be the approach to take,鈥� Agee said.

The construction was awarded at the price of $5,050,000. However, later that amount had to be reduced by $3,000,000, with the square footage slashed by a third and some architectural features eliminated. Construction was scheduled for completion in 1975.

Named the Penick Academic Complex (after John Penick, whose estate provided Union with $600,000. John鈥檚 father, Isaac Penick, was a longtime Bible professor at Union), the facility was designed with color-keyed zones for art, student center, science, general academic, music, drama, administration, library/media and gym. The classrooms varied in size from small rooms for only a few students to larger ones holding up to 100. The cafeteria doubled as a place for students and faculty to gather between meals, in place of a student union building.

Rendering of the new academic complex.

Bulldozer clearing ground for the Penick Academic Complex


Crane placing steel for Penick Academic Complex

Framework of Penick Academic Complex being placed.


President Robert Craig surveys the construction site with Tennessee Gov. Ray Blanton.

Completed Penick Academic Complex

Student Village

Student Village under construction (click for larger version).

A developer expressed interest in the peach orchard area, so the University gave him the land east of the bypass in exchange for him building the residence halls, Agee said.

After considerable input from students, two ideas seemed most important. First, they wanted a commons meeting area where students could gather for group activities, visit with friends and do laundry. Second, students wanted private bedrooms in apartment-style residences, many with kitchens. Called 鈥渢ownhouse apartments,鈥� the concept was decades ahead of its time.

鈥淪tudents were all excited about new housing particularly,鈥� said Maggie Nell Brewer, dean of students during that time.

Murphy was among the first students to live in the apartments. 鈥淔our of us decided we wanted to stay together,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e all had those private bedrooms and the living area and kitchen. It was really pretty nice. Over on the old campus there were two people in one room. It was basically a bedroom with two desks, and you walked down the hall to the showers and restrooms.鈥�

鈥淲e were one of the first colleges to have this,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淭here were not any鈥攑articularly among Southern Baptist colleges or state colleges we were associated with鈥攖hat had the type of housing we were moving toward.鈥�

Known as the 鈥渟tudent village,鈥� the buildings were built of precast structural concrete and redwood exterior siding and connected to the commons buildings and academic complex by 鈥減edestrian streets.鈥�

Students walk along the pedestrian streets in the new student housing in 1979.

Ready for the Move

Students load buses for a tour of the new campus.

As the construction neared completion, faculty and students alike were anxious to view the new campus. In fact, so many visitors stopped by to see the progress that the contractor complained it was difficult to maintain the work schedule.

The University borrowed buses from area churches and sponsored a trip for students from the downtown campus to the nearly-completed location.

Hyran Barefoot, Union's 14th President

鈥淚t was an exciting time,鈥� said Hyran Barefoot, Union鈥檚 14th president, who was a professor of Greek and New Testament prior to the move. 鈥淚t was like resurrection to be going to a new place.

鈥淢y mind remembers very vividly the newness of it, the novelty of it,鈥� Barefoot continued. 鈥淓xcitement gripped both faculty and students. And in the background of everybody鈥檚 mind was the fact that the campus almost had made a decision to go to Memphis. So I think there was a soothing effect that settled on everybody when we had finally gotten that resolved.鈥�

Student committees were working on every aspect of student life before the move. 鈥淣ow their planning was coming to fruition, so they were excited to see what it was going to look like,鈥� Brewer said.

Planning and organizing the actual move was an enormous task. The effort required many hands.

鈥淚t became obvious that it was going to be very expensive to hire professional movers,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淥ur business manager, Bob Elliott, was a genius at spreading a nickel over a dollar. The move was handled in a way that was, to me, miraculous.鈥�

Union rented trucks, and faculty, staff and students alike helped pack up and move the 150-year-old campus in the summer of 1975.

Students touring the new campus in 1975

New Campus Brings Changes

That year also marked Union鈥檚 150th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of its association with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Celebration and dedications marked the first year on campus.

鈥淓verything was new and, at that particular point, everything was in one building except the housing for students,鈥� Barefoot said. 鈥淭hat was very new: the cafeteria in the same area that the classes were, the library and gymnasium in the same area. It was a great adjustment for all of us, but I don鈥檛 know of any reluctance on the part of anybody or that anybody was unhappy because of any part of it.鈥�

鈥淲hen you came to class in the morning, you never left,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淵ou stayed in that building all day if you had classes all day. That was really different. Of course, in snow or cold or rain, you were there and didn鈥檛 have to go back outside.鈥�

Another change was the more rural setting.

鈥淲hen we were at the old location, students could walk to stores or shopping areas if they didn鈥檛 have automobiles,鈥� Barefoot said. 鈥淎nd 40 years ago, not as many students had their own transportation as they do now.鈥�

Students with cars could access the bypass quickly from the main campus entrance on Country Club Lane and drive to the Old Hickory area. The campus bookstore also stocked many personal items to compensate for the lack of stores north of Interstate 40.

Some housing regulations changed as well. For the first time men had the same curfew restrictions as the women. 鈥淲ell, that wasn鈥檛 a happy time for all the men,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淲e had to weather some storms there.鈥�

In addition, the University decided that fraternities would live in campus housing but have their own facilities for social events. Within a few years, fraternities and sororities raised funds and began building in the designated area at the new campus.

Aerial of the Union campus in 1983.

Growth for the University

鈥淚t was obvious that the concept of the housing was going to be a real magnet,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淲e built the campus originally to take care of 1,200 students. The thinking was that if Union ever reached 1,000 students, that was probably as big as it would ever be. And I was one of those voices that said, 鈥楴o, this is going to be popular.鈥�

鈥淯nion had a very strong academic reputation, and had for years,鈥� he continued. 鈥淵ou add to it a new facility and delightful housing, and the school just took off in growth. We filled up the student housing the first year and had a waiting list.鈥�

From 1975 to 1980, enrollment increased from 973 to 1,375. In the years after the move, the PAC was expanded and reconfigured several times to include an auxiliary gymnasium, swimming pool, racquetball courts, music practice rooms and additional instructional space.

鈥淭he way the Penick Academic Complex is designed, you could move walls and create space,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able, because of the nature of the facility we built out here and its adaptability to changing demands of technology and the classroom, to meet the continued growth. We could meet that, adding on to the original design, at a much more affordable cost than we could have if we had tried, at the time, to build a new, separate facility somewhere.

鈥淥f course, as time went on and the school continued to grow and alums continued to prosper, we were able to add individual buildings.鈥�

Plans for additions to the new campus

Touching the Future

In 1975, Craig wrote, 鈥淪ince 1968 Union University has eagerly looked forward to the day when it could embark upon a new horizon in Christian higher education. That day is now here, and the college is occupying an entirely new campus 鈥攊ntimate in design, contemporary in approach and futuristic in structure.鈥�

Forty years later, the innovative apartment-style residence is still a popular Union trademark. The campus now has seven multi-building residence complexes and has added 10 additional academic and administrative buildings. Union has campuses in the Memphis and Nashville areas as well.

The new facilities developed hand-in-hand with new long-range plans, expanded academic programs and reorganization to fit the needs of students and the community throughout the four decades.

鈥淎ny institution that鈥檚 going to meet societal needs has to be willing to plan and think and dream and work. If you sit still, you go backwards,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淚t was a blessing and an exciting time to be a part of dreaming dreams and seeing visions for the future.鈥�

The cherry trees in front of Savage Chapel