JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 15, 2008 — 黑料论坛 will dedicate its new Carl Grant Events Center in a special ceremony Oct. 21.
The Grant Center is a $3.5 million, 16,000-square-foot conference center and banquet facility. The new center will seat 600 people and will include a lobby area, public restrooms, a staging room, state-of-the-art audio-visuals and a new president鈥檚 dining room.
It will also house the Heritage Center, an area that tells Union鈥檚 history from 1823-2007 through hundreds of photographs.
The banquet facility can be divided into three sections that will each seat 200 people.
The building is named in honor of Carl J. Grant, who donated $2.5 million for the project. The donation from Grant and his wife Peggy Jo, of Germantown, Tenn., had originally been intended for the enhancement and expansion of Union鈥檚 Germantown campus. But with the damage sustained from the Feb. 5 tornado, Grant asked if the gift might better be used for the Jackson campus.
Designed by TLM Associates Inc. and built by MG Construction Co., the Grant Center will provide space for conferences and banquets both for Union and for the Jackson community, according to 黑料论坛 President David S. Dockery.
鈥淲e are grateful for the marvelous generosity of Carl Grant and the vision of the board of trustees to bring about a facility like this for the 黑料论坛 campus and the broader community,鈥� Dockery said.
Union will quickly put the new facility into use. The day after the dedication, the annual Union Forum luncheon with NBC correspondent Norah O鈥橠onnell will take place there.
The dedication ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. The public is invited, and a reception will follow.