Groundbreaking ceremonies for an $18.6 million chemical engineering building that honors a former Brookhaven resident will be held April 2 at Mississippi State University.
The Dave C. Swalm Chemical Engineering Building is being made possible by a major gift from the Houston, Texas, alumnus who received a chemical engineering degree in 1955. Additional support is coming from the state Legislature.
Swalm Hall will sit east and slightly to the front of Allen Hall, the main administration building. The new building will face north in a direct line across the Drill Field from south-looking Lee Hall, the historic 1909 structure after which its exterior is to be exactly patterned.
Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice is expected to join Swalm, university officials and special guests for the 4 p.m. ceremony. Parking for off-campus visitors attending the ceremony will be reserved on the east side of Allen Hall.
Swalm helped found Texas Olefins Co. and was its majority owner until selling the company last year. One of the university's top donors, he previously has endowed scholarships, equipment funds and salary support for the chemical engineering department.
A Los Angeles native whose family later moved to Brookhaven, Swalm graduated from Brookhaven High School in 1951.
The first floor of the five-story red-brick building will provide general use classrooms, as well as a 140-seat auditorium. The upper floors will house chemical engineering classrooms, laboratories and offices. (A model of the building in its future setting is on display in the Mitchell Memorial Library lobby.)
Swalm's donation also will restore the Lee Hall exterior to its original appearance, a project to be conducted simultaneously with the new construction.
Architects are Johnson, Bailey, Henderson, McNeel of Tupelo, Jackson and Columbus. Mid-State Construction of Jackson is the general contractor for the construction, which will be complete in 1999.