Commentary by Chris Smith, Clarksville Now editor-in-chief:
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – After the year we’ve had, everyone’s looking forward to 2021, mainly because of the promise that the COVID-19 vaccine brings.
But along the way, we have a lot of other things happening in Clarksville. Here are my thoughts on how things might play out in 2021.
1. COVID vaccine and reopening
Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine has begun, starting with health care workers and first responders and then, starting this week, with residents 75 and older. Next up will be K-12 and child care teachers and staff, then those 65 to 75 will then be worked into the COVID vaccine rollout schedule.
The current projection shows most people with any health risks or 45 and older should be vaccinated by summer. That schedule will change a lot depending on vaccine production and availability.
We know the vaccine works, but we don’t yet know if it also keeps you from passing COVID to others. So for now at least, it’s important for those who have been vaccinated to continue wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
Once the COVID-19 spread is under control, we should be able to fully re-open our schools, churches and economy. Best-case scenario is that will happen over the summer, with more conservative estimates showing it won’t happen until Thanksgiving.
2. Multi-Purpose Event Center construction
The new Multi-Purpose Event Center is under construction downtown, in the block bounded by College, First, Main and Second streets; construction will continue for all of 2021 and well into the year after, with an estimated opening in fall 2022.
The MPEC, whose value is estimated at $105 million, will serve as a new home for Austin Peay State University’s men’s and women’s basketball programs. APSU, which has signed a 30-year lease, will be the primary tenant, though the facility will be open to public use.
Events at the arena will be managed by the Nashville Predators. The primary arena should seat between 4,900 and 6,400 people. The secondary arena will include a public ice sheet.
Along the way, construction should start soon on a large, privately-owned and operated retail center and parking garage between the MPEC site and the Riverview Inn, as part of a redevelopment plan for the hotel. The plan has been for that site to be built in tandem with the MPEC.
Between the public and private projects, that’s a lot of construction, and it will be going on all year, but the payoff will be a game-changer for Clarksville that will pay dividends for decades to come.
3. High-speed internet in county
People inside the city limits have taken high-speed internet for granted for years, but now county residents are getting the same luxury, which is increasingly a necessity. Cumberland Electric Membership Corp. is installing fiber optic lines to every customer in its service area across northern Middle Tennessee as part of a program called Cumberland Connect. They started with Stewart County and are generally moving east.
Just days ago, Cumberland Connect announced it is now live in Southside. Cunningham and Oakridge are expected to receive service “soon.” Then Palmyra, Cumberland Heights, Dotsonville and Woodlawn will follow later in 2021.
Unfortunately, CEMC customers east of the Cumberland River, in the Hickory Point, Sango and Port Royal areas, will have to wait: They are in the “future phases” area, coming 2022 or later.
With Clarksville residents already having fiber optic lines through CDE Lightband, all of this means most of Montgomery County will have high-speed internet by the end of the year, creating new economic growth opportunities in underserved areas of our community.
4. School decisions on prom, graduation, reopening
Big decisions are coming up for Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools, and everything will depend on how soon the COVID vaccine rollout slows the spread of the pandemic in Tennessee.
While the CMCSS focus has appropriately been on the education of over 36,000 students in an incredibly challenging environment, a lot of parents will soon be wanting to know if in-person graduations and proms will once again be canceled, sending the Class of 2021 to join the Class of 2020 to miss out on those milestones. Judging by current timelines, that seems likely to happen.
But, more importantly, what will fall 2021 bring? Teachers and school staff are to be vaccinated by the end of March. The vaccination schedule suggests that by August everyone high-risk and over 45 could be vaccinated. But students likely won’t be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
Austin Peay State University plans to return to traditional, mostly face-to-face instruction for fall 2021, as does MTSU, which could signal a pattern for other institutions, including public K-12 schools.
We know that remote learning will continue to be available for CMCSS, in cases of inclement weather or an outbreak of coronavirus or flu. If CMCSS decides to go without the all-virtual option, they now have a good backup solution in place, whether COVID is under control or not.
5. Performing Arts Center on the table
The city now has a written agreement with the Roxy Regional Theatre that paves the way for the city to build the long-planned Performing Arts Center, with the Roxy becoming the leasing tenant, managing events at the facility.
The 25-year lease gives the Roxy three fiscal years of rent payments at only $1 per year. After that, the Roxy will pay to the city 5% of any revenue beyond the “break even” costs of operating the center. On Dec. 17, the City Council voted on first reading to approve purchase of the Roxy building by the city for $810,000. A second vote is still needed.
Now that the building is being purchased and the lease is set up, the design and more details should be coming soon, setting up a new future in which the city partners with one of its shining stars – the Roxy – to further the improvement of downtown.
6. New City Council
One of the more refreshing developments of the past five years in Clarksville has been an end to reckless bickering on the City Council and between the city and county mayors. That’s largely thanks to Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts, who took office in January 2019 and brought calm, open and consensus-building leadership. The existing council seemed to appreciate the shift in tone, and the last two years have been mostly productive.
But the council is about to change. There are seven new members on the 12-member council, with the only two incumbent council members on the ballot losing their races. With any luck, the new council will be as effective and professional as their predecessors, working out the necessary disputes without working against one another.
7. Closer to Highway 374 circling city
TDOT has been working for years now to complete Highway 374, finishing the southwest portion of a circle around Clarksville. The highway currently stops at Dover Road. The expansion would continue the four-lane highway from Dover Road south to cross the Cumberland River with a new bridge and then join with Highway 149.
The project is critical to our future, as it will take a lot of north-south commuter traffic off of Riverside Drive and Providence Boulevard.
In 2020, we saw the widening of Highway 48/13 from Clarksville to the McClure Bridge and the creation of a new span for that bridge. TDOT in December moved all the traffic to the new two-lane span and exploded the old span. That span will be rebuilt, and probably won’t open until spring 2022.
The widening of 48/13 and of 149 will continue all year and probably finish in early 2022. The next step will be getting the right-of-way for Dover Road to Dotsonville Road. TDOT expects that to be funded in 2022. After that will be right-of-way for Dotsonville to Highway 149, with the funding schedule unknown.
8. Kirkwood school construction
Montgomery County now has a new 110-acre Clarksville-Montgomery County School System campus at Rossview Road and Kirkwood Road. Plans are to build an elementary, middle and high school. The middle school will come first, with construction starting in January 2021 and an opening in fall 2022, with the rest of facilities being added at a later date.
Meanwhile, residents in the fast-growing area will eventually benefit from a widening of Rossview Road to five lanes from Interstate 24 to Hayes Lane, past the Kirkwood site. 2021 might also see completion of the Rossview Road widening project immediately around the Rossview campus.
While it’s nice to have progress on a new school, Montgomery County has fallen behind on construction needs. Responsible communities invest in new schools over time and on a conservative fiscal schedule, instead of scrambling at the last minute to solve overcrowding after it happens, as we have done all too often.
Here’s hoping for a 2021 in which we solve the problems of the past, make clear plans for the future, and work together to make Clarksville the best it can be.
Commentary by Chris Smith, editor-in-chief, Clarksville Now.
Correction: Seven new members are joining the City Council. One ran unopposed. The article has been updated.