Beyond the growth in student population, the building may become structurally unsound if it is not renovated soon, said Roger Baker, the campus master planner.
“It’s gotten to the point also to where if we don’t renovate it soon, it may get past the point of repair,” Baker said.
A water migration problem affects parts of the building, particularly the basement, and would be addressed in the renovation, Baker said.
According to the vertical file in Mississippi State Libraries’ University Archives, Lee Hall was built in a process similar to today’s renovation process. MSU President John C. Hardy started the process by asking the legislature for funding for the project in 1907, and it was completed in 1910. 
It was named after MSU’s first president, Stephen Dill Lee, an article written for the MSU Sentinelin 1993 said.
The final cost of construction was  $575,000, and its use was intended for both classroom and administrative roles, according to the book “Floor Space of Academic Buildings: Mississippi State University,” published in 1969, found in the university archives.
Since then, the building has undergone few renovations. One, costing $255,000, was made after the building caught on fire in Oct. 1948, the Sentinelarticle said.
In 1988, Lee Hall was renovated for fire safety improvements that included new fire-detection mechanisms and a new sprinkler system, among other things, at an estimated cost of $630,000, according to an article published in the Starkville Daily News, also in the vertical file in University Archives.
The most recent renovations occurred in 2005, when Lee Hall was given  a brand new auditorium, said Tim Muzzi, the university architect.
Today’s renovations are going to be a little more costly to the university but are much needed to maintain the integrity of Lee Hall.
“It’s a multi-million dollar project and will encompass a total renovation of the tower portion of the building,” Muzzi said.
The project is benefiting the building and campus in many ways, and nearly every aspect of the building, excluding the auditorium, will be affected by the renovations, he said.
“The exterior of the building will be renovated and tuck-pointed (the removing of the mortar and the brick and then replacing the mortar part), water migration will be stopped, historical windows will be renovated and there will be a roof and new electrical system,”  Muzzi said.
Signed by Elbert R. Hilliard, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Department of Archives and History on August 1, 1984, a Mississippi Land Designation document, found in University Archives, certified Lee Hall as a Mississippi Landmark.
“Nothing can be changed on the building without the permission of Archives and History, which is a state agency,” Muzzi said.
MSU President Mark Keenum has asked that planning focus on centralizing classrooms around the Drill Field, which is directly affecting the planning phase.
“Right now, the project has been approved for pre-planning, which means we’re determining what is going to go in the building,” Muzzi said. 
Currently, much office space occupies the building, and the hope is the buildings around the Drill Field can be focused on academic roles.
“Right now, there’s a lot of office space in the third and fourth floors in the building, there’s also office space on the first floor, and most of the basement is also office space, so that only gives you one level of classroom space in the building,” Baker said. 
In an effort to minimize student commuting from class to class, planning groups are looking at moving these offices off the center of campus.
“Those support roles could be moved out to a perimeter area and come into the core when they are needed,” Baker said.
As officials look at renovation, space has to be allocated for the current administrative roles in Lee Hall, regardless of where they will be placed after construction is complete.
“To start the construction of Lee Hall, then you have to have a place for the people in it to go, that’s the process we’re in now,” Muzzi said.
Budget cuts are affecting the decisions being made, and university officials are looking to maximize building usage in order to conserve money while also providing the growing student body with adequate classroom space.
“We want to be sure that the resources we already have are being used to the maximum efficiency,” Baker said.
Though still in the early planning phases, Lee Hall’s renovation is a top priority for the university administration. Though construction will only take about 18 months, it is a sequential process requiring much planning that leads to that point, Muzzi said.