No more Spartan living

MSU improves living conditions with new residence halls

By C. Richard Cotton

There was a time when the pursuit of knowledge was as much an exercise in Spartan living as it was in earning a degree.

Today's college student wants comfort, convenience and value for his housing dollar. To meet those demands, universities and colleges across the country are improving living conditions for their students, who are also their customers.

Mississippi State University in Starkville is one of those schools. The school is tearing down the old to make way for the new.

"They were all built in the 1950s and 1960s and have long outlived their usefulness because they no longer meet the needs of today's college students," said Dr. Ann Bailey, MSU's director of housing and residence life. She refers to old-style dormitories demolished for the current construction of New Residence Halls Phase 2 and last year's construction of Ruby Hall, which constituted Phase 1 of the project.

Renovations were determined to be economically prohibitive so the school opted for new construction.

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Gone are the old communal showers, where privacy was a scarce commodity; instead each room - usually housing two students - features a private bath. Other amenities include wireless Internet service, more space, combination microwave oven and refrigerator and bigger windows for a brighter environment.

The contractor selected for both Ruby Hall and the new three-building complex next door is Memphis-based Inman Construction Corp.

"It's a fast-track project," said Joseph Capps, Inman's project manager. The company was awarded the $37.4 million job and received the notice-to-proceed last August; completion date is set for Aug. 12, mere days ahead of the fall semester's start.

Capps oversees "the bulk of the construction of the structures" but shares management duties with John Everett.

"It's that huge," Capps said. "It takes two people to run it."

By mid-November, Capps and Everett were well on their way to a probable record of two months of rain-free weather, almost unheard of in the Southeastern United States.

Foundations were poured in two stages on the structures and framing had begun on the first.

The buildings comprise 274,000 sq. ft. of floor space; two buildings are three stories tall and one is four stories tall. They each feature a common lobby between two residence wings.

"Right now we're working 56 hours a week," said superintendent Charles Sanders. Shifts of 10 hours are worked Monday through Thursday, while eight-hour shifts are the norm for Saturdays and Sundays.

Crews in November were still demolishing Smith Hall, which was built under the old methodology, said MSU's Bailey.

"They were built to last," she said of the concrete block-and-brick structure.

Apparently, little consideration was given to the changing needs of future students. Wireless Internet, for example, could not have been envisioned a half-century ago but the older halls were so solidly constructed that demolition is about the only alternative.

Somewhat surprisingly, framing on the new residence halls is wood. Sanders said he was surprised to find that method in use for buildings of the size and purpose they will have.

Bailey said part of the decision to go with wood framing is that it is much easier to renovate, if necessary, in future decades. And, should demolition be indicated, the job would be much easier accomplished than Smith Hall or the other throwback structures.

Fred Mock, associate director for maintenance and facilities in the MSU Department of Housing and Residence, said tearing down Smith Hall cost another $180,000 that was not part of the Inman Construction contract. He added that the choice of wood framing versus metal construction was based on several factors, including lower cost and faster construction time.

Mississippi State University is also home to the renowned School of Forestry, a fact that carried considerable weight in choosing materials.

Furnishings will run $1.4 million and architect/engineering fees are $2.1 million. Mock said those amounts are also not part of the Inman contract.

The Meridian, Miss.-based architectural firm of Luke Peterson Kaye was tapped for designs of both Ruby Hall and the new project.

"We have been working on (Mississippi State) University projects for 10 years," firm principal Bob Luke said. He said the design features of Ruby Hall will be carried over to the new structures.

The site also includes a parking lot on the north side of the new buildings, where spaces for 832 vehicles are designed to accommodate hall residents as well as help alleviate a chronic parking-space crunch on the largely commuter campus.

The new buildings surround a large grass-covered commons area, where circular sidewalks provide a welcome respite from linear walkways elsewhere on campus. Landscaping is an integral part of the design, which offers pleasant study and gathering spaces out-of-doors.

Mock said one of the three new buildings has been named S. Bryce Griffis Residence Hall in honor of a longtime member of the Institutions of Higher Learning board. The three residence halls will likely house both men and women, housed in separate wings in compliance with the state's ban on co-ed housing.

"Every room will have a fire sprinkler and smoke detector, as well as smoke detectors in the air ducts," Mock said, adding that Ruby Hall was built with 800 smoke and heat sensors. Fire is a particular concern since a 2004 blaze in a University of Mississippi fraternity house killed three students.

Bailey said the university currently has about 3,500 beds for resident students; that's down from the usual 4,000 due to old halls being evacuated and demolished. By the time Griffis and the other new halls open next August, the bed count should be back at the normal level.

If Capps is feeling the pressure of a quickly approaching deadline, he doesn't show it. Flurries of activity emanate from every corner of the project site as Capps surveys the progress of dozens of subcontractor crews.

"We'll make it," he promises.