Middle Tennessee State University has begun construction on its new aerospace facility at Shelbyville Municipal Airport (KSYI) in Tennessee.
Supported by $73.4 million in combined federal, state and university funding, the new base of operations will provide a permanent home for all MTSU aircraft, according to university officials.
With new hangars, classrooms, offices, and ramp space, the project will accommodate future fleet expansion, they added.
With 20 full-time faculty, more than 100 flight instructors, and more than 1,400 students representing 32 states and 10 countries, university leaders believe the aerospace program is “poised to reach even greater heights once the new operations are completed in an estimated two years.”
Currently, MTSU has operations based out of the Murfreesboro Airport and Shelbyville Municipal Airport. Operations at the Shelbyville Airport are currently located in temporary facilities, which will be relocated to permanent structures upon completion of the construction.
MTSU alumnus Paul Perry, airport director for the city of Shelbyville for the past eight years, said MTSU flight operations will be on more than 25 acres, just south of the existing airport.
Perry calls the development around the airport an “innovation corridor,” with Shelbyville Airport, MTSU Flight Operations, a new Tennessee College of Applied Technology Shelbyville campus across from the airport, two flight schools, and Motlow State Community College students utilizing an airport simulator.
“All of the pieces work hand in hand,” he said. “There’s a strong education emphasis.”
Completion of the new facilities is expected to occur following a 24-month construction period. Until then, Aerospace Department officials anticipate that most of MTSU’s flight training and other educational programs will continue to be based in Murfreesboro and Shelbyville, with the aviation maintenance program to remain at Murfreesboro Airport.
For more information: Aerospace.MTSU.edu
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