Southern Miss sees campus construction

As students gear up for a busy school year, the University of Southern Mississippi Physical Plant is also gearing up for an even busier year with construction projects across campus.

A recent grant has propelled the Physical Plant into action with the mission of beautifying the campus street between the Liberal Arts Building and Joseph Greene Hall.

Chris Crenshaw, director of the Physical Plant, said the project is stretching from the intersection at Pearl Street to the intersection at Montague Boulevard between the LAB and Joseph Greene Hall.

“We are most excited about this project,” Crenshaw said. “We plan to have this area looking even better than West Memorial Drive already does.”

The project includes bricking the entire length of the street, landscaping with trees that will turn a golden color during the fall months, up-lighting (which will include uniform lighting) in the landscaping of the trees, constructing half-walls for professors to take their classes if weather permits, and installing picnic areas and covered bike racks.

Crenshaw said students should take note that although the area in its entirety is blocked off, there is a walkway that will remain open between the construction sites linking Joseph Greene Hall, the LAB and the International Center.

In addition, the area’s water supply line has been completely replaced, and the sewer to Joseph Greene has been repaired.

This project is expected to reach completion by Dec. 31.

Separately, in May, campus was buzzing with the excitement of the groundbreaking of the new College of Business building, Scianna Hall, which will be located off U.S. 49, nestled between McCarty Hall and the Trent Lott Center for Economic Development.

Crenshaw said though the construction team working on Scianna Hall has made extensive progress since May, the building project still has a long way to go.

“The foundation is in its early stages since the infrastructure of the building is still being laid,” he said.

Crenshaw added that certain outages on campus will be unavoidable, but efforts will be made to keep them zoned and limited. He said students should check their e-mail accounts regularly for notification of these outages and estimated times, dates and areas that will be affected.

Scianna Hall will be a state-of-the-art facility housing computer lab classrooms, an auditorium venue for guest speakers and top-notch technology. This new home to the College of Business will open in 2014.

Yet another project on campus is replacing the grass on Centennial Lawn, where cattle panels currently block the area. Crenshaw said the lawn should be open by the first football game.

Brittany Holifield, a senior music education major from Laurel, said she was most excited about the renovations that the older buildings on campus are receiving.

“The older structures on campus have a lot of value, and I think the renovations are bringing out their original beauty,” Holifield said.

Students and faculty are encouraged to keep up with these projects by checking the Physical Plant’s website at www.usm.edu/physical-plant.