Four summer construction projects

Four construction projects are in motion at �鶹��Ƶ’s Hattiesburg campus. They all have the same deadline – completion before students arrive on campus for start of the fall semester.

THOMAS FINE ARTS CENTER

Thomas Fine Arts Center has been a part of campus life for more than 60 years. It’s where �鶹��Ƶ students, employees and friends gather for concerts, chapel services, operas, guest speakers, youth camps, and commencement ceremonies.

The building �鶹��Ƶ calls “TFA” has seen ups and downs. Major repairs were needed in 2017 after an EF3 tornado struck campus. In 2019, a new elevator was installed. Tuscan Studios, a high-tech recording and audio lab, opened in 2022.

More changes are under way this summer as workers undertake a renovation of TFA’s auditorium. In the first phase, they gutted the space, right down to the floor. The re-built auditorium will feature:

New theatre-style seating
Carpeted aisles with safety lights
Acoustic ceiling/panels to improve sound
Dramatic new design and color palette
Audio-visual equipment
And in front of TFA, a new sidewalk allows easier pedestrian access to the building.

ART DEPARTMENT

For many years, �鶹��Ƶ’s art classes met in borrowed spaces at the Hattiesburg campus. But a new, modern home for the �鶹��Ƶ Art Department is under construction at the corner of Cherry Street and Tommy King Drive.

The 6,400-square-foot building with high, vaulted ceilings will include studio spaces for drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture. There will be gallery space for exhibitions – and lots of sunlight streaming through the building’s many windows. The open interior is meant to enable free communication among students and instructors.

Jeff Revette, chair of the �鶹��Ƶ Art Department, said the decision to approve a new building came after three-fold growth in the number of art majors over the last two years.

TWO DORM RENOVATIONS

Last summer, �鶹��Ƶ renovated Bryant Hall, one of the older dormitories on campus. Two more dorms are on the “to-do list” this summer – Polk Hall, built in 1962, and Bass Hall, which opened in 1963.

Upgrades include: new air-conditioning units in each room; modernization of bathrooms, including new showers, sinks, toilets, mirrors and floor tiles; and renovation of the lobbies, including new finishes and furniture.