Ole Miss plans to expand Conner Hall and baseball stadium

Published 11:12 am Monday, January 30, 2017

JACKSON — The University of Mississippi is planning to expand two of its flagship academic buildings.

The College Board approved plans this month to hire architects to design additions for the main business and journalism buildings.

Ole Miss will pay $1 million for a plan to expand Conner Hall, the 1961 structure that is home to the Patterson School of Accountancy and Business Administration. Holman Hall was constructed as an addition to Conner Hall in 1998.

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Also being eyed for expansion is Farley Hall, home to the university’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media. The university will pay a different architecture firm $1 million to design an expansion for the 1929 building.

The university is already building a mammoth $135 million, 200,000 square-foot science building, set for completion in fall 2018.

Stadium overhaul

Meanwhile, Ole Miss will borrow up to $19 million to overhaul its baseball stadium.

The plan to borrow money for up to 15 years for Oxford-University Stadium was approved earlier this month by the College Board. Ole Miss plans to repay the money through donations from athletic boosters and ticket sales.

The university plans to add a 45,000 square-foot operations center to house equipment and laundry rooms, locker rooms, training and weight rooms and an outdoor plaza. Plans also call for adding 7,500 square feet of club seating behind dugouts and renovations to other parts of the stadium.

Though projections show Ole Miss won’t be able to repay the money from baseball income alone, the university plans to subsidize the stadium project using general athletic revenue and donations.