Student Government Association leaders Jeremiah Chambers, Zachary Lewis and Laken Coppinger participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially launch The Flight Deck. Photo by Peyton Schultz.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga celebrated the opening of The Flight Deck on Monday, Oct. 19, with a ribbon-cutting for the newly named outdoor fitness area near Lockmiller Apartments.
The Flight Deck adds to students’ opportunities to be active beyond traditional fitness facilities and organized recreation programs. Located steps from where many students live and across McCallie Avenue from most of UTC’s residence halls, the facility expands outdoor recreation opportunities on campus.
“This is so important because it allows our students to engage in physical activity, help manage their stress and find greater connections on campus,” said Dr. Veronica Warren, UTC associate vice chancellor of student affairs. “Students can come out of their residence hall from studying and take a break and also have their peers around them, and that creates more opportunity for belonging.”
Warren said the location makes the space particularly accessible for students.
“You have neighboring residence halls and you have adjacent academic buildings that allow students those breaks to come and use the outdoor space as they see fit,” she said.
The ribbon-cutting brought together UTC students, staff, campus partners and representatives of PlayCore—a Chattanooga-based company that describes its mission as building healthy communities through play, recreation and outdoor spaces. Through its Center for Outreach, Research and Education (CORE), the company uses research, planning resources and data to inform outdoor-space design.
The project began with a meeting between Jennifer Fritts of UTC Advancement and PlayCore, which provided the fitness equipment and installation at cost. The Green Fee reserve account funded the remaining project expenses.
Dr. Jason Harville, assistant director of academic initiatives in Housing and Residence Life, reflected on the site’s earlier role as a volleyball court while welcoming attendees to The Flight Deck’s official opening.
“What I remember most isn’t necessarily the volleyball. It was the people,” Harville said. “It’s the friendships, it’s the conversations, the shenanigans and, of course, the sense of community that we all built out here on this space.”
Harville said the outdoor facility’s name carries a connection to the student experience at UTC. In aviation, a flight deck is where pilots navigate, make decisions and prepare for the journey ahead.
“They arrive here at UTC with different backgrounds, with different destinations in mind and different ideas about where life might take place,” he said. “But along the way, they build strength, they develop confidence, they find their community and they prepare for whatever’s next.”
The Flight Deck was designed with input from the Student Government Association Executive Committee, Housing and Residence Life, and Enrollment Management and Student Affairs leadership.
Other contributors included Impact Parks Project Manager Robert Mazza, who worked with UTC on equipment specifications and installation needs; Ross/Fowler, the project’s landscape architecture firm; Chelsie Ewing, UTC’s on-site representative for the system office and design team; and Laurie Kianka, UTC’s on-site project manager.
Located steps from where many students live, The Flight Deck expands outdoor recreation opportunities on campus and supports UTC’s ongoing focus on student health, well-being, engagement and belonging.
SGA President Zachary Lewis, a junior from Livingston, Tennessee, said students will benefit from having a recreation option close to their residences, classes and other campus amenities.
“They don’t necessarily have to walk across campus if they want to go hit the gym,” said Lewis, who is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in political science and communication. “It’s going to be really convenient for them.”
Lewis said the area offers more than a place to work out.
“I think it will be great, especially if I just want to go relax in the hammock garden over there or chill out and have lunch with my friends,” he said. “Even if I don’t want to go work out, I can still find community.”
SGA Vice President Jeremiah Chambers, a senior from Chattanooga who lived in the Lockmiller community during his first two years at UTC, recalled using the former volleyball court to study, play and spend time with other students.
“This space had such a special part” in the student experience, said Chambers, an early childhood and family studies major and Innovations in Honors student in the UTC Honors College.
“As this space continues to change and evolve into what it is now today, serving as a workout space for our students, we know that this space will continue to have such a special part in the hearts and the lives of so many UTC students,” he said.
SGA Treasurer Laken Coppinger, a junior majoring in political science, said The Flight Deck reflects UTC’s investment in students beyond their academic experience.
“Having a space like this right here on our campus makes prioritizing our physical and mental health a little bit more accessible and a lot more convenient,” she said.
A Chattanooga native and Baylor School graduate, Coppinger said the space is intended for students of all backgrounds and fitness levels.
“Whether you’re getting in a workout between classes, meeting up with friends or simply spending some time outside, this is a place where students can come together,” she said.
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Photo gallery by Peyton Schultz
