Officials detailed plans for new campus buildings and unfolded the progression of utilities and technology at Mississippi State during the campus master plan review Wednesday.
Construction on a number of buildings should be completed within the next year, including the Cullis Wade Depot that will be located near the Davis Wade Stadium.
The Barnes & Noble bookstore that will be located in the Cullis Wade Depot will have the first escalator in Oktibbeha County, and a plane will hang from the store’s ceiling, MSU architect Tim Muzzi said.
“That little thing at the end is a basketball goal for kids to shoot Nerf basketballs in while their parents shop,” he said, pointing at a rendition.
Lee Hall renovations should be finished by the end of July, and Griffis Hall is due to open in August, he said.
However, officials are not sure when they’ll be able to start on the next phase of construction of the Northeast Village due to a shortage of funds for new construction.
Construction on other buildings is set to begin during the coming year, including construction on a new band hall that will begin in June near the corner of Blackjack and Hardy Road, Muzzi said.
Advertising for bids for the renovation of The Union should begin in April, and bids should be taken in May, he said.
The university’s goal is to move into the first floor of the building by the end of July in 2007 and into the rest of the building by December, Muzzi said.
“In keeping with this, we want to develop along the east side of The Union an stronger pedestrian connection from The Union all the way down to Allen Hall,” he said.
Information technology services head Mike Rackley presented statistics about the growth of MSU’s information systems.
“I think in general there’s a lack of appreciation of how big, how significant, the system has grown over the years,” Rackley said.
The original fiber optic network was installed in 1987, connecting McCool, Allen and Simrall halls, Rackley said.
Today, more than 50 miles of fiber optic cable connect more than 165 buildings, he said. The network can move information at speeds of 10 gbps, 1,000 times the original speed of 10 mbps.
About 500 wireless access points cover about 50 percent of campus, he said, and every day, 400,000 e-mails enter and leave the campus. About five percent of those have viruses or are otherwise malicious, he said.
The MSU Web site gets 1.3 million hits per day, he added.
The university has also been testing the transmission of cable over data lines.
“If that proves effective technologically as well as financially, it would greatly expand our cable network on campus,” Rackley said.
The university is also starting an imaging system on campus. Using this system would mean paper would not have to shuffle around campus, he said.
Assistant director for utilities Ralph Nobles said the university plans to add a fifth feeder line-or a line that takes power from a substation to consumers-to the four the university now has.
The fifth feeder line, which will be the first to be installed underground, will help supply power to the new residence halls in the Northeast Village. Installation will take place this summer, and it will be installed in time for Griffis Hall to open in August.
The university is also thinking about putting other lines underground, he said.
During the meeting, a pole that supported a feeder line passing through Fraternity Row snapped, so most of the meeting was held in the dark.