The Mill at Mississippi State University will open its doors in August 2015. The grand opening ceremony is set for August and will be an informal ceremony until everything is finished, and a formal ceremony will follow late in the fall of 2015. The Mill at MSU is a $40 million project that has transformed the E.E. Cooley Building into a state-of-the-art conference center.
The building’s amenities will include a parking garage with 450 spaces and a hotel with 110 rooms.  The conference center also has a ballroom that can hold 1000 people, media rooms with 100-200 seats each, and office spaces of 30,000 on the west end.
David Shaw, vice president for Research and Economic Development, confirmed the project is ahead of schedule and the conference center will be done by August.
The hotel is expected to be finished by the start of 2015’s football season.
The Mill at MSU has won Best Outstanding Project for 2014 from the American Planning Association. Upon completion of the Mill, there are hopes to increase tourism and gain representation with this new development.
Mark Keenum, MSU president, said he looks forward to celebrating the completion of the project.  
“I understand that construction is ahead of schedule,” Keenum said. “If all continues to go well, we expect a mid-to-late summer completion date this year.” 
According to Keenum, there are no new details of the project since construction began.  
“The overall project includes a conference center, hotel and parking garage complex centered around MSU’s historic E.E. Cooley Building,” he said. “It will also feature mixed-use business parcels on the land adjacent to the university’s old physical plant.”
Keenum said MSU has needed a conference center capable of accommodating large academic and professional meetings for many years.  
“The Mill at MSU fits that bill and will also provide a more dynamic gateway across the street from this main entrance to campus,” he said. “The project as a whole will be a boon to our ability to attract important academic conferences and visitors, provide much needed office space, and be more appealing to prospective students and faculty members. It has the potential to provide a tremendous economic boost for Starkville, Oktibbeha and the entire region.”