Unveiled restoration, renovation of iconic Kirksey Old Main at MTSU carries past into future

We were honored to celebrate the ribbon-cutting at MTUS’s Kirksey Old Main this week!

It was the year Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The Ford Model T was still a novelty, and most Tennessee roads were dirt or gravel. When the Middle Tennessee State Normal School opened in 1911, its campus consisted of five buildings on 100 acres, serving 125 students. The first of those five buildings was simply known as the Administration Building and affectionately called “Old Main.”

Today, it is better known as Kirksey Old Main, a landmark of the Middle Tennessee State University campus, and on Tuesday, Aug. 18, more than 200 MTSU supporters celebrated its long-awaited grand re-opening just in time for the fall 2026 semester. The KOM, as well as nearby Rutledge Hall, recently underwent a $54 million combined renovation, updating both spaces to better serve the current needs of the student body, faculty and staff. Read more.