State Technical College of Missouri in Linn is about a month away from completing its “big city” driving range.
State Tech, the fastest growing institution of higher education in the state, is adding a 10-bay high-tech driving range to its new Commercial Turf and Grounds Center, slated to open in August.
“I always say I don’t think people quite understand what we’re getting ready to do, but I think when they see the driving range and how it is, for a lack of a better term, a big city driving range in the little bitty town of Linn, they will,” said State Tech President Shawn Strong. “And to think this is very, very, very small scale compared to what we’re getting ready to do up on the hill.”
The Commercial Turf and Grounds Center will house the college’s turf and grounds technical program with classrooms, lab space and a greenhouse. Attached to the building is the driving range with high-speed cameras to instantaneously track golf balls.
Strong said the project will be completed in about a month, and the goal for opening is the end of August.
The building remains without electricity because of supply chain delays in getting electrical panels, Strong said. Still, contractors are making progress. Drywall is up and painters are expected to start their work this week, Strong said.
Crews have also started hanging heaters and fans outside the building and installing the driving range stall dividers. Sod for the driving range targets is scheduled to arrive Wednesday.
“It’ll all come together very quickly from here out,” Strong said. Strong said the driving range will provide “a good taste” of the college’s multi-million dollar plan to provide more entertainment options and attract more students to Linn, a largely rural community with a population of less than 1,500 as of the 2020 census.
The plan includes a $11.4 million entertainment complex featuring a sports bar and restaurant, three golf simulators, pro-shop, e-sports center, 50-seat theater, duckpin bowling and a 300-seat event space on the second level. Outside will be a pool and large patio with fire pits and outdoor games.
The 30,000 square-foot complex is replacing the former Osage Country Club clubhouse and is expected to open next year.
The college hired a director to oversee the facility last month. A rainy spring delayed action on the entertainment complex floor and burned through the extra time the college set aside for the project, Strong said, but crews are scheduled to install a floor next week.
Plumbing and underfloor electrical wiring are slated to be installed this week, he said.
“Just because of the nature of it, there’s a lot of that going in,” Strong added.
Steel to start construction upward, the next step in the project after the floor, is ready to be shipped from Springfield, he said.
State Tech announced the entertainment developments last year as a way to bring more students to campus. The college’s enrollment has grown more than 60 percent since 2016, reaching more than 2,000 students last fall.
Strong said he’s hopeful campus development will help State Tech enroll 3,000 students in coming years.