Comments on: Partial Collapse at Mississippi Industrial College

By: bryancottrell

bryancottrell — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 02:41:10 +0000

its a real shame that my family didnt keep upwith thestate of these buildings thats all i have to say

By: Helen Rider

Helen Rider — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:58:59 +0000

I pass there every day. I’m sorry to say that several of the buildings look to have significant damage, the roof has collapsed on one and one is just a shell. There were some offices in one for a little while but it’s gone now. These looked like they used to be beautiful buildings.

By: Update on Mississippi Industrial College (it’s not good) | Preservation in Mississippi

Tue, 18 May 2010 11:01:24 +0000

[...] historic buildings left on the amazing but vacant Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs, suffered a partial collapse last June (2009). That news came to me word-of-mouth, and I’ve never seen anything about it in the papers [...]

By: ELMalvaney

ELMalvaney — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:42:56 +0000

Thank you for this update on the condition of this important and historic campus, Mr. Beckley. I’m really surprised to hear your request for funds was denied at both the state and the federal levels. I assume you are referring to MDAH’s Community Heritage Preservation Grant of last fall and the stimulus funds for HBCUs? Did you get any feedback about why those were denied? Have you made any progress with the Congressional delegation?

My understanding is that MDAH does have Mississippi Landmark fund, that while small can be used to stabilize Mississippi Landmark structures, of which I believe the campus is included. Have you discussed the possibility of obtaining funds from this source? Presumably you have an engineer’s report on the buildings that are still able to be saved so that you have some solid numbers on how much it would cost to do some basic stabilization.

By: David L. Beckley

David L. Beckley — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:07:51 +0000

The current status of the historic buildings on the Mississippi Industrial College campus continue to be perilous in regards to stimulus and private funds for renovation. Over the last 18 months, since acquiring the property, requests for support have been denied at the state preservation level as well as the federal level. The College is continuing its quest for funds through the Department of Interior and the State’s Congressional delegation. Catherine Hall and Washington Hall are both collapsing. Catherine, according to our architects, is beyond saving with Washington close to the same point. Carnegie Auditorium has suffered great damage since the school closed in 1982. Hammond Hall was renovated by the church after the school closed. This facility was used by the City of Holly Springs Police Department until the first of the year. Currently it is closed.