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Remember When, Chattanooga? The TVA Office of Power was a downtown wonder in the 1980s

Chattanooga Times photo by George Baker. This mid-1980s aerial photo of the TVA Office of Power building being erected in downtown Chattanooga is part of a collection of vintage photographs at ChattanoogaHistory.com. Chattanooga Times photo by George Baker. This mid-1980s aerial photo of the TVA Office of Power building being erected in downtown Chattanooga is part of a collection of vintage photographs at ChattanoogaHistory.com.

By Mark Kennedy October 21, 2022 2 min read

In the 1980s, construction of the million-square-foot TVA Office of Power in downtown Chattanooga was a pivotal point for the resurgence of the city.

The sprawling complex cost $180 million to build and eventually housed thousands of white-collar TVA employees. About 3,000 TVA workers are still assigned there, although COVID-19 restrictions have limited the number of people who work there to a fraction of that number on any given day, according to officials.

This accompanying aerial photo, shot by former Chattanooga Times photographer George Baker, was taken months before the TVA complex opened in the summer of 1985. Cranes can be seen as the upper floors of the buildings are topped off.

That same summer, the Warehouse Row retail and office complex opened across Market Street from the TVA complex.