Mickle Hall Updates
In the Spring of 2022, President Chris Holoman announced two initiatives related to the college’s Forward campaign: a varsity football program and a state-of-the-art renovation of Centenary’s science building, Mickle Hall. With varsity football having started their first season in the Fall of 2024, students are questioning when, exactly, Mickle Hall will see its turn. With so many of our students studying the sciences, this building renovation would enrich Centenary’s overall education.
This past week, I sat down with Dr. Holoman to ask when, and if, the Mickle Hall renovations would occur.
(Block Quote) JH: “In 2022-2023, there was the big announcement like we have this $50 million dollar plan. We want to restart varsity football, and we want to update Michael Hall. We've seen the varsity football. They're up and running, super exciting. And so now students' heads are kind of questioning towards Mickle, where's that at and like what this college is thinking about that. Are we still planning on renovating Mickle?”
CH: “Absolutely. we have conversations all the time, and the board still understands how critical it is and is still committed to doing it. So yeah, you're right that in I guess it was spring of 22, I challenged the board and said we need to do these two big initiatives as well as the other things…Meanwhile, the costs for the Mickle project just skyrocketed. We had originally hoped that we could do it for about 10 million dollars. And then so we chose an architect, and they began doing the drawings and we engaged the contractor, and the contractor came back and then the next estimate we have was 20 million. And then we got an estimate, as they continue to refine the drawings, [putting it at] 29 million dollars at which point we made a decision that we're going to have to have to pick and choose.”
The decision for the administration to first prioritize football was made off many different factors. They considered the enrollment and involvement increase to be a more immediate boon to gain from football. Additionally, while many of our supporters understand the importance of the Mickle Hall renovation, more donors were specifically invested in the football program. President Holoman is confident that the College will reach its fundraising goal of 50 million dollars by the end of the bicentennial year, and thus will be able to start construction.
The renovation is a tricky bit of work. The building must be renovated all at one time due to the infrastructure. While a ground-breaking day will not be set until the fund-raising goal is met, the school is steadily making plans for the interim time. The school is planning to use a combination of different solutions, including modular labs, using the newly purchased building at the corner of Centenary in Washington, and a potential partnership LSUS.
Dr. Holoman made sure to assure me and the Conglomerate that Mickle is, and will remain, a priority. Any funding they receive for Mickle Hall is put away and reserved for the project. The school is continuing to raise money. There will be several donation initiatives this year, including one specifically for Mickle during Homecoming Week.
