Leon Williams Contractors, a Maryville-based commercial design-build firm, has been contracted out to help build three new dining options for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s new West Campus Housing, including an Einstein Bros.
Bagels, Dippers and a Provisions on Demand (P.O.D.) quick-serve store.
“The new West Campus building allows for a more traditional-style housing to foster a feeling of community,” said Dr. Dee Dee Anderson, interim vice chancellor for student development. “These new brand offerings will be a terrific addition for the students who live in the building, and for our campus as a whole.”
The dining spaces Leon Williams will build out take up roughly 6,500 square feet of the 231,000-square foot building and offers some unique challenges.
“This project is somewhat unique in that we are completing a project inside a project,” said Jimmy Hawkins, president of Leon Williams Contractors. “We are working alongside the contractor building the main building to complete the interior dining area which means there is additional coordination to connect our systems to theirs and keep the systems from conflicting with each other. Another challenge is that all of the plumbing underneath the dining space will run through a parking garage, which requires additional work to ensure that all piping is insulated and heated in order for them to flow properly.”
This marks the 13th project Leon Williams has done with UTC, and construction is set to begin in early February. The dining spaces and the new West Campus Housing building will be open to students for the 2018 fall semester.