Back to News 
By James Brooks
Press Staff Writer
jbrooks@johnsoncitypress.com
MILLIGAN COLLEGE — Milligan College will be turning a new face to the world when work on revamping the college entrance is completed.
Workers are completing new brick pillars now and will soon be installing wrought iron fencing for the entrance.
In charge of the project is Clarinda Jeanes, wife of college President Donald Jeanes. She works as a volunteer overseeing landscaping of the college, and has long wondered about the entrance, but lacked a solution until an adviser pointed out that a guardrail, installed along the state right of way was the basis of the problem.
“It’s bothered me for 10 years until I realized that we had to come up with something that would replace that guardrail,” she said.
That further complicated the project because plans had to be approved by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The guardrail raises a problem for another state item, the marker for Milligan College placed by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The guardrail all but completely hides the marker, which according to state guidelines should ideally be placed where it can be seen from the road and where a driver could pull over and read it without impeding traffic. Relocating the marker requires another layer of state approval.
“We will do plantings in harmony with the rest of the landscaping to make it an integral part of the entrance, rather than being hidden or sticking out like a sore thumb,” Mrs. Jeanes said.
Before construction could begin, however, she had to go out and raise the $50,000-$60,000 needed to cover the cost. “I had to do it through private donations,” she said. “The first thing the students ask is whether they are paying for this, but it won’t affect tuitions.”
Instead the money will come from a mix of alumni gifts, private donors and personal friends. “We have already raised about $50,000 of the amount and I’m watching closely to ensure that it doesn’t go over our budget, and I hope to keep it under the $50,000 we have in hand,” she said.
As a volunteer landscaper she is continually looking at the campus with an eye toward beautification and developing landscaping around new areas, such as the new liberal arts center.
The work is being done by Burleson Construction, which is also the contractor for the new liberal arts center.
Johnson City Press Article