Ground was broken for the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center on March 3, 1999. The grand opening of the newly constructed Thornton Athletics Student Life Center was on April 21, 2001. The principal donor making this facility possible was Chattanooga businessman and UT Board of Trustees member John C. Thornton, who contributed $1 million. Thornton had asked UT President Joe Johnson sometime previously how much it would cost to be able to run through the “T” at a football game, and Johnson had said $1 million.
The 28,771-square-foot building was designed by The Lewis Group Architects of Knoxville, and is a three-story facility featuring academic support spaces, such as the Peyton Manning Study Area and the Lyle Finley Study Area, the David L. Howard & Family Computing Lab, a writing lab, and tutoring spaces. It also provides spaces for meetings, exhibits, counseling, and testing. Dr. Ruth Darling, formerly director of student affairs and advising services in the College of Arts and Sciences, was named the first director. In the second year of its operation, the center was designated the umbrella sheltering all athlete academics—for both male and female intercollegiate athletes.