Campus and Buildings

Belmont University occupies a 62-acre campus in Southeast Nashville at Sixteenth Avenue South and Wedgewood Avenue. Virtually all traffic skirts the campus and thus allows a quiet, secluded environment. However, the campus is conveniently situated near churches of all faiths, hospitals, restaurants, shopping centers, and other universities. Buses of the Metropolitan Transit Authority stop near the campus on their frequent trips to and from the downtown area. Classes are located in ten main buildings with the library and other facilities lying in close proximity to the classrooms. Most buildings are recently constructed or renovated. Major structures include:

Campus and Buildings

Belmont University occupies a 62-acre campus in southeast Nashville at 16th Avenue South and Wedgewood Avenue. Virtually all traffic skirts the campus and thus allows a quiet, secluded environment. However, the campus is conveniently situated near churches of all faiths, hospitals, restaurants, shopping centers and other universities. Buses of the Metropolitan Transit Authority stop near the campus on their frequent trips to and from the downtown area. Classes are located in ten main buildings with the library and other facilities lying in close proximity to the classrooms. Most buildings are recently constructed or renovated. Major structures include:

The Beaman Student Life Center, Connected to the Curb Event Center and the Maddox Grand Atrium, the Beaman Student Life Center is the hub of campus activities. The BSLC includes a fitness center with strength training and cardiovascular equipment, an aerobics and dance area for a wide variety of classes, two racquetball courts, a recreational gym, a rock-climbing wall and student locker rooms. In addition to the recreational and wellness facilities, the center houses the administrative offices of Belmont's Dean of Students and the Office of Student Affairs. The facility also features numerous student services including a convenience store, offices and meeting rooms for student organizations, and ample gathering spaces and inviting seating areas for students to study and interact.

Belmont Commons, at the south end of campus, provides 30 fully furnished, four-bedroom townhouses each accommodating four residents.

Belmont Heights Baptist Church, Belmont University owns the property and building where Belmont Heights Baptist Church meets, and in the past few years, part of that structure was converted into a performing arts theater, which can be seen in the next stop on the tour. At this point, the university uses the church space primarily for rehearsals for the larger ensembles of the School of Music as well as for occasional concerts and special lectures.

Belmont Little Theatre, located below Hail Hall, is the performance and production lab for the Belmont Theatre and Drama Department. The theatre sponsors a minimum of four main stage productions a year, all of which are open to the campus and Nashville community.

Belmont Mansion and Bell Tower, Listed on the national register of historic landmarks, the 155-year-old Belmont Mansion is the architectural centerpiece of the university's campus. The property, then called Belle Monte, was intended to be a summer home escape for Adelicia and Joseph Acklen, one of the wealthiest families in the South at that time. The Acklens built, furnished, and landscaped Belle Monte as one of the most elaborate antebellum homes in the South, and the estate contained an art gallery, conservatories, lavish gardens, aviary, lake and zoo. The Belmont Mansion now serves the university as a social center and is maintained as a historical museum. Two hundred yards south of the Belmont Mansion stands the historic Bell Tower, which was used as a water tower on the Acklens' original estate and as a signal tower during the Civil War. The current Bell Tower includes a total of 42 bells weighing more than three tons and is one of only five carillons in the state of Tennessee. The Bell Tower is now captured in Belmont University's logo and is honored as the centerpiece of campus.

The Bill and Carole Troutt Theater,  Belmont's elegant theater complex opened in 2007 and includes a 350-seat proscenium theater named for former Belmont President Bill Troutt and his wife Carole. Trout Theater provides state-of-the-art lighting and sound, as well as a stage equipped with 35 fly lines with a full package of stage drapes and moveable lighting electrics. Directly behind the stage house lies the Bill and Sharon Sheriff Scene Shop, a production and teaching facility for all of the stage sets, stage properties and stage lighting for all Department of Theatre and Dance productions. Connected to the scene shop is the Black Box Theater, which is used for smaller, intimate productions involving flexible staging, unique audience seating and student-centered design opportunities. The entire facility also doubles as a classroom for acting, movement, diction and dance classes during the day.

Belmont collaborates with a number of local ensembles on productions throughout the year, including Actors Bridge, Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nashville Children's Theatre and the Nashville Ballet. In addition, the Theater Complex makes an impact beyond the university's borders by providing a venue for showcasing the work of local theaters and performance groups, summer high school student institutes and specialty workshops designed to assist teachers of theatre and dance.

The Black Box Theatre is a 150 seat experimental theatre space located on Compton Ave. directly behind the Bill and Carole Troutt Theater. This brand new facility a classroom and performance venue for the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Bruin Hills, on the east side of campus, includes 115 unfurnished two-bedroom and one- bath apartments.

Lila D. Bunch Library, is located on the west side of Belmont Boulevard. It houses four floors of resources, seating for 500 students, a circulation lobby, a reference/periodical wing, a microcomputer center, an instructional technology laboratory, a multimedia presentation hall, an education services center, a music services center, a listening/viewing center, three special collection rooms, four group study rooms, two group listening/viewing rooms and two atriums and wireless Internet capabilities.

Campus Security Building, built around the turn of the century, was originally a carriage house. Operational headquarters are located in the Gabhart Student Center.

Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Service Learning, Belmont's new major in Social Entrepreneurship, the first of its kind in the country, centers on the emerging business field that tackles social problems and unmet community needs via entrepreneurial principles. Housed on the south side of campus, the Center for Social Entrepreneurship "seeks to empower and engage students, faculty, staff and community partners though various programming including training, service-learning, assessment and research activities to impact social change through innovative approaches and projects." Belmont's Service Learning initiative is also housed in the Center on Compton Avenue. The university's vision statement puts service at the heart of a Belmont education and participating in the Nashville community is a vital element of that service. With Nashville being home to a diverse population that includes refugees, immigrants, disadvantaged families and schoolchildren, students' involvement with local service learning helps them better understand the needs challenges and opportunities of working in a variety of settings.

Center for Music Business, houses the recording studios and writer rooms for the Curb School of Music Business. It is located on the lower level of the Massey Business Center.

The Curb Event Center,  Home to the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate, Belmont University's Curb Event Center (CEC) is a 90,000-square-foot major sport and entertainment complex. The building offers state-of-the-art facilities for athletics, concerts, speakers, tradeshows, meetings, conferences, dinners, receptions and consumer shows. The Belmont Bruins NCAA Division 1 basketball and volleyball teams play in the Curb Event Center, which is maintained and operated by fully digital, computerized systems and represents state-of-the-art production capabilities. The CEC also features a seven-floor parking garage offering spaces for 800 vehicles.

Adjacent to the Curb Event Center is the elegant Maddox Grand Atrium, which is used for receptions, lectures, dinners and concerts. The expansive anteroom is finished with polished terrazzo flooring, rich cherry-stained wood and moldings, ceramic tiles and elegant art works.

Approximately 3,500 square feet of prime retail space has been set aside on the front section of the Curb Event Center for Belmont students to develop retail or service businesses. Bordering Belmont Boulevard, the three student-run businesses provide an opportunity to learn first-hand about entrepreneurship.

Fidelity Hall, which was built in 1905, once served as a residence hall for the Ward Belmont School, a high school and junior college for young women. Alumna Sarah Cannon, who was perhaps best known as her alter ego Minnie Pearl, had a room on the hall's second floor. Fidelity now provides both administrative and academic space for the university. The Department of Philosophy and the School of Religion hold classes in Fidelity, and the building is also home to Belmont's University College Adult Degree Program as well as the Offices of Development, Alumni Relations, Finance and Operations and Human Resources.

Freeman Hall,  Built in the late 1800s, Freeman Hall reflects both the rich history and modern innovations for which Belmont University is known nationwide. In addition to serving as Belmont's "front door" and the gathering place for prospective students and parents, the building serves as home to the offices of Admissions, Student Financial Services, the President and several Vice Presidents and Senior Leaders. Freeman also houses Belmont Central, a one-stop shop for almost anything students may need: forms, transcripts, answers to registration and financial aid questions, etc. Belmont Central plays a key role in Belmont's mission to put students' first by providing individual, unparalleled student service in one centralized location.

Gabhart Student Center, The Gabhart Student Center, houses a number of departments that are central to the Student Life experience, including the campus Dining Hall, University Ministries, the Department of Media Studies, International Education, Campus Security headquarters, Career Services and Health Services. In addition, located on the lower level of Gabhart is the University Bookstore, where students can purchase textbooks (new and used), school supplies, Belmont logo clothing and gifts, greeting cards and other related campus items.

Gordon E. Inman Center.   Gordon E. Inman, a successful Tennessee business leader, donated $10.5 million to the building that now bears his name on Belmont's campus, representing the largest single donor gift to the university to date. The building is home to Belmont's College of Health Sciences and Nursing, consisting of schools in Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Pharmacy and Social Work. The College serves as a national model for educating practitioners in health and social welfare fields. Through integrated, innovative practices, students learn to work across disciplines, becoming better prepared to serve needs both in their own communities and throughout a constantly changing world.

The Inman Center's state-of-the-art labs are equipped with human patient simulators, digitalized video, bedside computer charting, electronic supply scanning and static mannequins. The labs are designed to reproduce realistic practice settings, including the basic hospital unit, critical care, surgical/operating suite, pediatrics, neonatal nursery, maternity, home care, health assessment and diagnostic labs. All lab spaces are also outfitted with tables and chairs for reflective thinking exercises that allow the students time to review their decisions and actions with the instructor and their classmates.

Hail Residence Hall provides 80 spaces for male students in traditional style residence hall rooms.

Heron Residence Hall provides 110 spaces for female students in suite style arrangement.

The Hillside, provides fully furnished, two- and four-bedroom apartments. Preference is given to upperclassmen.

Hitch Science Center houses offices, classrooms and laboratories for biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics. The building was completed in 1974.

Kennedy Hall, completed in 2003, provides 200 spaces for male and female students in suites in separate wings.

Leu Art Gallery, located at the front entrance of the Lila D. Bunch Library, showcases during the fall and spring semesters the works of local and regional artists. The gallery, completed in 1994, also houses a permanent collection of art reference books.

Leu Center for the Visual Arts, is a state-of-the-art facility housing studios for drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and photography as well as a graphics lab with 20 Macintosh workstations. The facility also houses a student gallery, a 118-seat audio/visual room and faculty/staff offices.

The Maddox Grand Atrium, used for receptions, dinners and concerts, is an expansive and beautifully appointed anteroom finished with polished terrazzo flooring, rich cherry-stained wood and moldings, ceramic tiles and elegant art works.

Maddox Residence Hall provides 154 spaces for male students in a suite style arrangement.

Maple Hall, modeled after Kennedy and Thrailkill, is Belmont's newest residence hall, opening to students for the first time in fall 2008. It accommodates 250 residents in suite-style living arrangements.

Massey Business Center, Encompassing 115,000 square feet, the Jack C. Massey Business Center was completed in 1990, and houses the College of Business Administration and Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business Administration, class and studio space for the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, study lounges, seminar rooms, conference rooms, dining rooms and a convenience store. A state-of-the-art learning center, the building also includes three computer labs and a financial trading room. The Center is named for Nashville business legend Jack Massey, who became the first person in the history of the New York Stock Exchange to take three unrelated companies from private to public listings.

Ranked in the Top 100 on BusinessWeek's annual report of the Best Undergraduate Business Schools, Belmont offers the only private undergraduate business program in Tennessee accredited by  AACSB International, the premier accrediting agency in that arena. The Massey Graduate School of Business has been named the best MBA program in the region. In addition to the top-notch faculty and innovative practices that make these programs so successful, business students can also enjoy access to the Career Development Center, the Center for Business Ethics and the Center for Entrepreneurship during their time in Massey.

Students in Belmont's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business-hailed by both Rolling Stone and Time magazines as one of the best music business programs in the country-will spend time in both traditional business classrooms as well as state of the art studio spaces. In the basement of the Massey Business Center lies the Center for Music Business, a 9,000 square foot multi-studio complex comprising classroom teaching laboratories and the Robert E. Mulloy Student Studios. This facility includes a full range of state-of-the-art digital and analogue recording equipment along with an exceptional complement of signal processing equipment and microphones, including the personal microphone collection of legendary producer and former MCA and Capitol label head Jimmy Bowen.

Massey Performing Arts Center, provides an exceptional multi-purpose performance setting. The upper level of the building contains Massey Concert Hall which seats approximately 1,000. The lower level of the building, also newly renovated, contains Harton Recital Hall, music offices/studios, classrooms, practice rooms, the Belmont Academy and dressing rooms. It is joined to the Sam A. Wilson Music Building by an open courtyard.

Pembroke Residence Hall provides 130 spaces for male students in a traditional style hall.

The Special Emphasis Houses are homes located at 1508, 1512, 1513 and 1524 Compton Avenue. These houses offer students study outside the classroom in various academic areas.

Student Health Services is located on the second floor of the Gabhart Student Center.

Thrailkill Hall, opened its doors in 2006 and provides living space for 322 students in a suite style arrangement, as well as 400 parking spaces in the attached garage. The residence hall is named in honor of Belmont's past board chairman Larry Thrailkill and his wife, Jan.

The Tower was built c1852 to serve as a water tower on part of the Belle Monte estate owned by Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen and Adelicia Hayes Acklen. In 1973, the ground level was restored and houses a prayer chapel. In 1986, a 23-bell carillon was installed.

Wheeler Humanities Building houses offices and classrooms for the Departments of Education, Literature and Language, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work.

Wilson Music Building, contains the College of Visual and Performing Arts offices, School of Music faculty studios/offices and instructional/rehearsal space. The lower level of this three-floor structure houses practice rooms, a piano lab and two music technology labs.

Wright Residence Hall provides 290 spaces for female students in a traditional style hall.