WESSON – Several renovation projects scheduled for the summerand fall are on track for completion, Copiah-Lincoln CommunityCollege officials said.

The main project involves the renovation of Smith Hall, which isused to house classrooms and teacher offices.

“The project is right on schedule and should be completed by thefirst week in August,” said Copiah-Lincoln Community CollegePresident Dr. Howell Garner.

The Smith Hall renovation budget is set at $2.6 million, butschool officials plan on using $2.5 million. The project, whichbegan in May, will involve creation of new classrooms, installationof a new heating and cooling system, transforming the brick latticearound the building into a glass and metal store front, and otherimprovements.

The next project on the list will be the construction of a newathletic center. The budget is $125,000 for the campus’ teams andtheir sports.

The athletic center will be built across from the maintenanceoffice on campus. New weights and equipment will cost an estimated$25,000 of the budget, and a new film room also will beinstalled.

The project for the existing press box at Stone Stadium has beenput on hold for the time being, but Co-Lin officials plan on addingto the two-story building.

The plan is to make the new press box two stories high. Theconcession stand will be housed on the first floor. The secondfloor will become the announcer’s booth and the reporters and radiobroadcasters section for reporting and filming, along with room forthe team coaches and their film crews.

For the time being, the construction team has started phase oneof the project with the construction of a new bathroom buildingwhich will be built in the same location as the old one.

Other projects to be done in the near future will be the streetproject where the campus grounds will be landscaped to expand thearea.

A new roof will soon be installed for Copiah-Lincoln CommunityCollege’s oldest men’s dorm, Elsie. Also, a new security camerasystem will be added to the Natchez and Simpson county campus,along with additional cameras on the main campus.

Lastly, Copiah-Lincoln Community College has joined togetherwith Johnson Controls Inc. with an energy project.

“This should give us more sufficient energy,” said Garner.

Air cooling units will also be replaced around the campus.

This is the first of the many plans Co-Lin will be undergoing tomake the college a better and fun environment for the students.

“I feel the new construction shows that Co-Lin is growing as acollege and it’s great they’re keeping up with today’s technology,”said Co-Lin student Andrew Scott.