Contact: Maridith Geuder
University officials and guests will break ground Tuesday [June 6] for a new facility adjacent to the McCarthy Gymnasium that will house Mississippi State's agricultural and biological engineering department.
Among speakers at the 10:30 a.m. program are Ray Hayes, vice president for finance and administration; Peter Rabideau, provost and vice president for academic affairs; and William Batchelor, head of agricultural and biological engineering. Representatives of FoilWyatt, the Jackson architectural firm, and Tupelo-based construction company Jesco Inc. also will attend.
The 40,000-square-foot, $11 million building will be built on the site of the former "Tin Gym," the all-metal-roofed building built in 1929 that preceded McCarthy as the university's basketball arena. The department currently is located in the 1950s-era Howell Engineering Building near Humphrey Coliseum, where the Bulldogs have played basketball since the mid-1970s.
Students majoring in biological and agricultural engineering have gone on to pursue careers in biomedical engineering, medicine, environmental engineering, and agriculture and natural resources, among other fields.
The new facility will significantly expand the existing 6,000 square feet of classroom and laboratory space and will place the department in closer proximity to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.
For more information on the ceremony, telephone Julie Lemons at 662-325-0724.