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UT receives permission to purchase, demolish three Fort Sanders homes

WUOT News, Matt Shafer Powell

The Tennessee State Building Commission has approved a proposal from the University of Tennessee that would allow UT to purchase three homes in the Fort Sanders neighborhood and demolish them if necessary.  In a press release, university officials say they're hoping to build a new four-to-five story classroom building in the space currently occupied by three Queen Anne-style homes.  The 200,000 square foot building will eventually feature general-purpose classrooms, shared laboratories and house facilities related to the university's microbiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, psychology and nutrition programs.  University officials tell the Knoxville News Sentinel there are no immediate plans to demolish the houses and they say they may incorporate them into the design of the new academic building.