Larger Space Will Allow for Expansion of Course Offerings
 
CARROLLTON, GA – The University of West Georgia is going West — three
miles west — to downtown Newnan. On Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Board of
Regents of the University System of Georgia voted to approve the
acquisition of the real property at 80 W. Jackson St., the site of the
historic Newnan Hospital facility. The decision is the result of
nearly two years of planning by key stakeholders at the Board of
Regents, UWG, the City of Newnan, Coweta County and Newnan Hospital,
Inc., all of whom are committed to strengthening the area’s workforce
through improved access to education for both traditional and
non-traditional students in the Newnan area.
 
House Representative Lynn Smith has long supported the acquisition.
“It was an idea that became a vision that became a reality,” she
explained. “Something like this takes a lot of hard work by many
dedicated people. And it takes tenacity. It takes people and
organizations that are willing to invest time and energy in the
community. Everyone involved has done just that and it’s because we’re
doing something important here. We’re educating our future leaders.”
 
The project began with a generous offer by Newnan Hospital, Inc. to
donate the historic hospital building and surrounding 6.13 acres for
use as an educational facility. The offer also included a $4.2 million
donation to begin improvements. This donation package will soon be
accepted by the City of Newnan, which will fund $15 million in much
needed renovations. All contracts and planning will be managed by the
City, though the university will help guide the design process based
on current and anticipated instructional needs. Upon completion of the
first construction phase, which will create about 51,000 square feet
of usable space and nearly 32,000 square feet of “warm shell”
expansion space, the Board of Regents will purchase the property for
$5 million. UWG will then vacate the current Newnan site in Shenandoah
Industrial Park and, upon receipt of a quit claim deed from Coweta
County, will sell the property to fund additional renovations in the
unfinished shell space.
 
At the end of phase one, the University will move its Newnan-based
undergraduate and graduate degree programs in nursing, education and
business to the facility and will seek to expand its
healthcare-related degree programs in Newnan. This will include
additional nursing laboratories, patient simulators and classrooms
because the Newnan/Coweta area is fast becoming a respected healthcare
focal point and a pool of highly educated, well-prepared nurses is a
vital component to the community’s continued growth in this
critical-need field. In addition, the new facility will provide space
for a large lecture hall, a library, a food court, a bookstore and
additional administrative and faculty offices. It will also allow UWG
to expand dual-enrollment opportunities for local high school
students, particularly in the science, math and technology disciplines.
 
University President Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna is among those celebrating
the Board’s decision today. “I am very excited about the significantly
increased UWG presence in Newnan, made possible by the Board of
Regents' approval of the acquisition of the property, subject of
course, to all the specified clearances. This will be a win for the
wonderful people of Newnan and Coweta, who will have increased access
to first-class undergraduate and graduate programs; a win for UWG,
which will have increased access to the great students of the area; a
win for the State; and a win for the vibrancy and development of
downtown Newnan!”
 
A few additional tasks must be completed before the project officially
begins. The traffic study is complete and shows no impact. The City
and County will sign the necessary legal agreements at a City Council
meeting on Jan. 22, at which time the Council will also select a
project manager. A Board-stipulated environmental study is scheduled
for completion on Jan. 31. In early April, the City will select an
architect and create a design team to review the original floor plans
and make any necessary changes. Based on current projections, UWG
anticipates that it will begin serving students from the new site in
early 2015.
 
“I’m pleased that we’ve come this far and excited about getting the
project underway,” said Keith Brady, mayor of Newnan. “The benefits of
having the University of West Georgia join the fabric of our downtown
are far reaching and will be felt for generations. The most important
thing that we can do to ensure that our children want to live and
raise their families here is to provide an attractive quality of life.
This expansion of the West Georgia campus helps achieve that goal.”
 
UWG-Newnan has operated from its current site in the Shenandoah
Industrial Park for 22 years. This property, which originally belonged
to Georgia Power Company, was purchased by Coweta County in 1998 and
donated to the University of West Georgia. In addition to core
curriculum classes and joint enrollment for high school students,
UWG-Newnan offers two full undergraduate degree programs (Early
Childhood Education and Nursing) and five graduate degree programs
(Master’s in Early Childhood, Special Ed, and Secondary Education;
Master’s in Business Administration; and Specialist in Educational
Leadership). Forty percent of the Newnan Center’s students reside in
Coweta County, and undergraduate enrollment has quadrupled over the
past ten years.
 
“I am thrilled that the project has finally been approved,” said Cathy
Wright, Director of the Newnan Center. “Native Newnanites like me have
a special connection to the old Newnan Hospital and its long history.
It's where we were born, where our children were born, where many of
us worked as "candy stripers" or "blue skirts" during our high school
years. It has been an important part of Newnan and Coweta County since
it was first built in 1925. I'm ecstatic that it will be transformed
into a downtown college campus.”
 
The University extends gratitude to Chancellor Hank Huckaby, the
Georgia Board of Regents, and staff members Lee Richey, Steve Wrigley,
John Brown, Joe Fucile and Peter Hickey for supporting the growth of
UWG-Newnan and also gratefully recognizes Georgia House Representative
Lynn Smith for her contributions, which have helped UWG reach this
important milestone.
 
While continuing to remember the strong support of past community
leaders Bill Williams, Scott Wilson, Bobby Welch, Winston Dowdell and
Inez Slaton, UWG is very grateful for the vision, hard work and
persistence of Tom Moat and the Newnan Hospital, Inc., Board, Newnan
Mayor Keith Brady, the Newnan City Council, Cleatus Phillips, Hasco
Craver, Theron Gay, the Coweta County Commissioners and the UWG-Newnan
Advisory Board. The assistance of consultants from Cooper-Carry
Architects and Jones Lang LaSalle, and the support of Piedmont Newnan
Hospital CEO Michael Bass and the Piedmont team have also been vital
to this endeavor.
 
Dr. Jon Anderson deserves special praise as he has led the project for
UWG for approximately two years, and Brendan Bowen has been the point
person for the facilities side. UWG recognizes the contributions of
past faculty and staff including President Maurice Townsend, Steve
McCutcheon, Tim Hynes, Don Wagner, Carol Goodson, Scott Stallings and
Rob Tornow, and commends the efforts of present staff members Jim
Sutherland, Michael Horvath, Melanie Clay, Kathryn Grams and Cathy
Wright.
 
UWG further acknowledges the contributions of Dr. Steve Barker,
Superintendent of Coweta County Schools, and Mr. Mark Whitlock, who
have initiated and continue to work toward a larger role for UWG in
dual enrollment in Coweta County.
 
Above all, UWG thanks its students–past, present and future–for making
the efforts and investments of all parties worthwhile.
 
“We’re just proud to have been a small part of this project,” said Tom
Moat, Chair of Newnan Hospital, Inc. “This is something that will
allow a lot of kids to start or finish college right here in Newnan
and it will last a lot longer than any of us.”