House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, gestures at Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, in the House chamber in Nashville in this file photo.NASHVILLE -- Tennessee lawmakers are expected to get new digs in 2017 with the General Assembly slated to move from the Legislative Plaza and War Memorial Building.
Their landing place will be the nearby Cordell Hull State Office Building which is scheduled to undergo a $44 million renovation.
House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, confirmed the move to reporters today as she explained why she missed a vote on a bill that would have granted some undocumented students living in Tennessee in-state tuition rates to attend public colleges.
Harwell said the move makes sense because repairs to the Legislative Plaza and War Memorial buildings are estimated at some $55 million.
Gov. Bill Haslam had planned to tear down the historic Cordell Hull building until an uproar among Nashville preservationists and historians forced him to back off.