Milligan recently purchased 120 acres with intentions to use the space for future expansion projects. The acreage is located behind the Milligan Village and is a part of the Taylor farm property.
This purchase brings Milligan’s total acreage to 355; 195 of which the school owned before joining together with Emmanuel, which added 40 acres. The 195 acres included 30 acres of the Taylor property that were previously purchased in 2004.
“This is the kind of purchase that the Trustees saw fit to approve just to provide Milligan the room to grow in the future,” said President Bill Greer. “Several years ago, we purchased roughly 30 acres of the same farm with the intention of expanding our housing. We didn’t use it for a few years, but ultimately, we built the Milligan Village on about half of that acreage.”
The recent purchase of the rest of the farm was a big move for Milligan and holds a lot in store for the school’s future.
“I could envision us having athletic facilities there, adding more residential housing or having a multipurpose facility of some sort on that property,” said Greer. “We will begin the process of mapping out the campus master plan with a bit of an eye toward that property, but it could be many years before that property is actually put into service for the school.”
The most recent owners of the Taylor property were Susan Carson Taylor and her brother, Earl. Their grandfather owned the land many years ago and was one of the original owners of the Carter County Bank. He wanted Milligan to have the first chance to purchase the property at some point whenever the family was finished using the land. The land has been on the market several times, but Milligan was unable to purchase the property in previous years due to the lack of funds.
According to Greer, the market returns were so high for the university this year that there were funds available for other purposes. The purchase price for the 120 acres of land was 1.6 million dollars, despite the land being appraised at a much higher value.
“The board is very careful about what they allocate those earnings for, wanting things that will benefit the institution for the long term and that’s why a land purchase became so attractive. It was God’s timing that it was available and that we had the resources to purchase it,” said Greer.
