Page 20 - Mar-Apr24 Vol 41 No 7

MORRISTOWN By Lisa Hood Skinner
Public Works Bought the Farm

Paul Brown, Director of Public Works trucks, equipment and materials. And (TCAT) was situated across from our
for the City of Morristown, said prior to we have room to expand if we need to,” old facility. The city sold our old space to
2020, “employees were all working on Brown said. TCAT, and that allowed them to expand
top of each other” squeezed in a small “I’d go over to the construction site in a logical way.”
space on Dice Street. while it was being built, and it was The double bonus here? Brown said
“We had severely outgrown the old just exciting to see it come out of the TCAT “teaches its students many of the
facility and needed room to breathe,” ground. But here’s the really great thing. trades, such as plumbing, welding and
Brown said of the 1960s-era office. “It Tennessee College of Applied Technology electrical, which are trade school skills
was in the heart of the city, about a mile
from downtown. Public Works was very
fortunate to have a City Administration
and City Council that looked into the
future, agreeing to provide us with a new
solution,” he said.
The city bought the farm. Literally.
Brown said the new Public Works facility,
located at 4360 Durham Landing, was
the site of a working farm (crops and
hay) prior to its construction and then its
opening in July 2020.
“I’m a lucky man, because not a lot
of Public Works directors get to have a
brand new facility. It has two buildings
and three covered areas for parked

20 TPW March/April 2024