McCool Hall, home to the College of Business and Industry, is set to undergo a 47,000-square foot expansion starting with a groundbreaking ceremony today.
The expansion will help the College of Business and Industry meet many of its needs, said Associate Dean Louis Capella.
“We need more classrooms for our students and more offices for our faculty,” Capella said. “We want it to be a more student-friendly building.”
The additions will have larger classrooms, small group study rooms and a three-story atrium called “The Great Hall,” said Emily Keith, admissions coordinator to the college.
The expansion will also have informational and technological features including new labs. The expansion’s effect on McCool’s aesthetic value is still somewhat contested, Capella said.
The MSU 20-Year Plan requires buildings around the Drill Field to meet certain codes, including having the same type of brick.
“The brick issue is still being debated,” he said. “However, it will reflect the surrounding environments, such as Perry Cafeteria and Montgomery Hall.”
The total amount of funding for the project has not been finalized, said Sara Freedman, dean of the College of Business and Industry. She added that the project is being privately funded.
The ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. today. All students and faculty are invited to attend.
“It’s a team effort,” Keith said. “We’ll have the groundbreaking of course, as well as speakers.”
Speakers, in addition to Freedman, will include Tasha Key, a graduate student in business administration and president of the College of Business and Industry Council of Student Organizations; alumnus Leo Seal; Rodney Pearson, professor in management and information systems; and President Charles Lee.
Freedman said the organizers wanted to have a representative from the students, alumni, faculty and administration because those are the groups who will benefit from the expansion.
“It will give each of them a chance to say what the expansion means to them,” she said.