The large mid-century office building clad in striking red granite and grey limestone at the corner of Houston Street and McCallie Avenue has an unassuming name but an interesting past.
540 McCallie, as it is known today, became a part of UTC's campus in 2013, though it was originally constructed as a new headquarters for the Interstate Life and Accident Insurance Company. Founded in 1909 by a group of local businessmen, the company acquired the McCallie Avenue property in 1922. After outgrowing several other spaces around town, the company broke ground for the structure in 1949.
Prominent Nashville architecture firm Hart Freeland and Roberts designed the building, and Mark K. Wilson was the general contractor. It was completed at an estimated cost of $1.75 million and dedicated in 1951 to great fanfare. The public was invited to an open house and a local newspaper marveled that it was “a masterpiece of engineering skill” and “perhaps the most modern insurance structure in the country.”
Distinguishing features included fluorescent lighting (relatively new technology at the time) and a conveyor system for intraoffice communication: documents like memos and reports were placed into special baskets and shuttled between floors with the press of a button. There were also numerous amenities for employees, such as a cafeteria, lounge, sundeck with a shuffleboard court and bowling alleys in the basement.
Among the buildings’ most prominent architectural elements are the bas-relief panels over the McCallie Avenue entrance. They are the work of sculptor and Vanderbilt professor Thomas Puryear Mims (1906-1975) and represent the morning, noon and evening of life.
In 1980, the Interstate Life and Accident Insurance Company merged with a Florida-based company, and the Chattanooga offices relocated there. The State of Tennessee acquired 540 McCallie in 1981, and it became known as the “State Office Building,” a workplace for nearly 400 employees from state agencies, including the Departments of Revenue, Environment and Conservation and Community Development Office.
In December 2013, the state transferred the building to UTC, which temporarily used the space for classrooms and academic department offices displaced by renovations elsewhere on campus. Current, long-term university occupants include Campus Information Technology and local radio station WUTC-FM 88.1, which relocated to the top floor of the building in 2022.
In his role as University archivist, UC Foundation Associate Professor Noah Lasley works to acquire, arrange and describe official University of Tennessee at Chattanooga records and other valuable materials that document the University’s history and functions. His research interests include digital humanities, digital curation and archival instruction.
Lasley received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in information science from UT Knoxville. Before joining UTC Special Collections in July 2016, he worked for several library units at UT Knoxville, including Modern Political Archives, Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project and Digital Production Area.