Archived News |
Sept. 17, 2004
Olin Hall History
The year was 1967. The Viet Nam war was raging in the Far
East. Dr. Zhivago was playing at the local theatre. The GT Fastback
was selling for $2,578. Robert Kennedy was campaigning for President
of the United States and in Northeast Louisiana the first "high
rise" building was under construction.
The building was being built on the thirty-six year old campus
of Northeast Louisiana State College. It was one of some twenty-four
buildings or additions to buildings completed in the 1960s during
President George T. Walker's administration.
Two of those buildings, built in 1966, were dormitories. But
the new dorms, Slater and Masur, were not enough to accommodate
the growing student population at NLSC. More dorms had to be
constructed. On November 20th, 1965 the Louisiana State Board
of Education approved an eleven-story dormitory to house 832
men and a three story structure to house 212 women. The addition
of the two buildings brought the total available on campus housing
to 3,800.
Preliminary plans for the building were approved by the State
Board of Education on March 26, 1966. The projected cost of the
men's dormitory was $2.75 million. The building was to be built
on the bayou on a site purchased from George Phillips for $71,500.
Lack of additional land forced the design of an eleven story
building.
Final plans for the facility were approved on May 7, 1966. The
construction contract was awarded on June 24 to Jesse F. Heard
& Sons, Inc. of West Monroe. Architects for the project
were Herbert Land and Prentiss Seymore of Monroe and local contractor
Bentz and Elmore built the parking lot. Final cost for the facility
was $3,124,594. It was supposed to be completed in September
of 1967, but the opening was delayed until the Spring of 1968.
The building was named after the Olin family of Olin-Mathieson
Chemical Corporation. Their business, Olinkraft Paper Mill, was
one of Northeast Louisiana's major industries.
Both the industry and Olin family had a great influence on the
economy and welfare of Ouachita Parish and Louisiana.
The new men's dormitory was an imposing structure on the corner
of Bon Aire Dr. and Hippolite Street (now Northeast Drive).
Olin Hall provided students with "elegant campus style"
housing. It was fully air-conditioned, with piped in music. The
residents were housed in suite type rooms connected by a bath.
Each floor had a television lounge. Walker felt the new dorm
was "symbolic of the rapid growth occurring on the college
student body, its facilities, the scope of its academic progress,
and the size and qualifications of its faculty."
That imposing structure, now thirty six years old, will be imploded
on September 25 at 10:00 a.m. by Anderson Excavation Company
to make way for updated student housing. The new apartment-style
residence halls will have high speed internet access and free
cable access. The project, which will be built and managed by
JPI, Inc., is expected to be complete by the fall of 2005.
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