On Feb. 29, Midwestern State University officially broke ground on Bolin Hall’s renovations, which started at the beginning of the semester.
Bolin Hall was built in 1966, and was partially renovated in 1997, without any other significant modifications.
The groundbreaking ended the first day of the board of regents meeting. Texas Tech Univerity System regents, local and state government officials and MSU faculty and administration members attended the ceremony.
President Stacia Haynie commenced the groundbreaking by acknowledging the contributions from Jim and Vicki McCoy through the McCoy foundation, which provided the initial funding for the project. With these contributions, MSU was able to secure necessary funding from the state of Texas.
“And Vicki, while I wasn’t in the room when it happened, I understand that having that philanthropic support was absolutely key to the success of our request to the legislature,” Haynie said, continuing, “We cannot thank you, the McCoy foundation trustees, and of course, Jim, for your foresight and generosity. Thank you.”
MSU joined the TTUS in 2021, but the two worked together prior to that during 2020’s COVID-19 lockdown.
TTUS Chancellor Tedd Mitchell described the need for Bolin’s renovations.
“I will just say this, Bolin Hall was built in 1966, I was four years old. And I can just tell you, by the time you hit about 60, it’s time to renovate things,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell also spoke about the collaborative effort between the TTUS, MSU and state government officials. A major concern was the possible elimination of Bolin’s renovations from the budget.
“I want to tell you about the way Senator Perry and Representative Frank were working on things. The closer to you get to the end of the session, the more frenetic the pace gets,” Mitchell said, later adding, “And so, I was on the phone in wee hours with the delegation about what they’re about to try to do.”
Mitchell continued, “James Frank actually went down on the floor, and these guys, they become vampires, they’re all there all night. So he’s down on the floor, making sure on the House side, that they get it back in to the final bill. Charles Perry is on the other side doing exactly the same thing there,” adding, “And this is before MSU was officially part of our system.”
Provost Margaret Brown Marsden emphasized her prior roles as dean of McCoy College, and said she understood faculty, staff and student concerns regarding Bolin Hall. Brown Marsden said the constraints from the lack of space and technology made it difficult to continue modern STEM learning.
“The students and faculty in the college genuinely needed improvements, and updates to a building that had served well for many years,” Brown Marsden said.
MSU administration and Wichita Falls Mayor Tim Short spoke about the renovation’s importance to the whole community.
“I think it’s really critical that our university is successful for our community,” Haynie said, adding, “That renovated space will be critical because our students now will have state of the art facilities as the progress in their education.”
“I think one of the major things is just morale. You see, besides economic development, besides financially, it’s just plain morale. Driving down Taft and seeing all of this activity going, seeing those flags there, community spirit is one of the good things that we will benefit from,” Short said, continuing, “It’s a proud day for Wichita Falls and the partnership that they have of Texas Tech.”
Brown Marsden acknowledged some of the worries of students regarding the renovation, saying, “It’s hard for us to lose half the building at a time,” adding, “I want to say thanks to the students for their support during this process. We know that it’s hard and that there’ll be days where it’s really difficult, and so we hope that they bear with us.”
Enrollment management and student affairs vice president Keith Lamb said the renovations will be worth the wait, with modern labs, learning spaces and community areas giving Bolin a new feel and improving students’ experiences.
