Renovations are set to begin during the winter break, potentially spanning two years, Nov. 13. (George Svoboda)
Midwestern State received over $40 million in state and donor funding to renovate and modernize Bolin Hall. The renovation will start over winter break and is expected to last approximately two years.
Approximately $11 million will go to updating health and safety in the building, including elevators and fire and lab safety. The rest of the budget will go to modernizing the building and creating shared spaces for students to relax between classes.
“Maybe 25% is about basic needs and life safety,” Interim Provost Margaret Brown Marsden said, “Things like furnishings, we have a separate budget for, that’s part of the larger project budget.”
According to Brown Marsden, the Texas Tech University System has a requirement to use 1% of the budget for public art, so MSU plans to commission a local artist.
The renovations will reduce the ability to conduct some research, but Bolin’s faculty and administration are working to limit the impact. Math and computer science research will be largely unaffected; the main concern is deciding on a location with enough power for a computer lab. The geosciences department is doing most of its lab work this semester so that analysis can be done next semester.
“Dr. Rosco does a lot of dissolving rocks in strong acids, so he’s done a lot of dissolving rocks this semester, and he’ll do a lot of looking at the fossils that came out of them next semester,” Interim Dean Sarah Cobb said. “They’re still going to be mostly working in Bolin, just in different parts of it,” she added.
Biology and chemistry are the two fields most affected by the renovations. According to Cobb, the scanning electron microscope, which is vital in biology, will be offline for a year. For chemistry, some research labs will temporarily be moved into the teaching labs, making it harder for equipment to remain set up for longer periods.
Biochemistry will move to the D.L. Ligon Coliseum, where a fume hood will be available for researchers who regularly need it.
“There will be some things moving back and forth from Bolin to the Coliseum,” Cobb said, “I think that’s the group that’s going to have the most trouble keeping that strong research going.”
Bolin renovations are set to include a building add-on, improved safety and new public artwork, Nov. 13. (George Svoboda)
MSU plans to do the renovations in phases. The east and west half sections of the building can have their airflow restricted from each other, allowing one side of the building to be mostly unaffected while the other is under construction.
The architecture firm that MSU hired works with the contractors and construction teams to work on and correct the design as they progress.
“That team that we’ve hired has worked in architect buildings before. They worked in the hospital to build something underneath the hospital before down in Southwestern, and so they have real experience in operating, trying to keep things operating, while we try to remodel,” Brown Marsden said.
Part of the renovation will be an expansion to Bolin, creating more room for the expanding student body.
Cobb said she understands student concerns about the impact on research, but, for the most part, research can continue. Research labs are expected to reopen in the spring 2025 semester.
In an effort to improve communication, Brown Marsden and Cobb held a forum on Nov. 2 to discuss the renovations with Bolin students.
Cobb also said the administration plans to create a monthly-updated student mailing list.
To continue research and labs, the Bolin administration has collaborated with faculty through surveys and meetings to meet their needs.
There will be a meeting between the administration and the board of regents on Nov. 16 and 17 to finalize the plans and design for the renovation.
