Trustees approve demolition of 108-year-old Morrill Hall

[Jeff Smith]

I had a desk in an office in Morrill when I was working on my Masters and working for Dean Herb Oyer of the Grad School (a legend from Audiology and Speech Sciences before that). The floors of good old Morrill Hall were a tad un-level (is that a word?) in places. But that place was so steeped in MSU history that you could almost see ghosts. - JGS

Trustees approve demolition of 108-year-old Morrill Hall

By Justin Harris
The State News
Published: September 14, 2008
With a name and tradition representing the land-grant history of MSU, 108-year-old Morrill Hall may soon be history itself.

The MSU Board of Trustees agreed Friday to begin planning a project to replace the building, citing safety hazards and costly repairs that make the facility unfit to hold faculty and staff. Morrill Hall currently houses the history, English and religious studies departments.

“It’s not a long-term facility,” said Fred Poston, MSU’s vice president for finance and operations. “We cannot continue in the facility we have currently.”

The $36 million plan to replace the hall will result in the destruction of the building, but it hasn’t been decided if another building will take its place. Faculty could be relocated to other buildings on campus or a replacement facility could be built. Four potential sites are being considered for the relocation: the current Morrill Hall location, near Bessey Hall, near Wells Hall and near the Power Plant on Shaw Lane.

Morrill Hall is named after Justin Morrill, a Vermont senator who helped pass the Morrill Act in Congress in 1862. The act appropriated land for agricultural colleges across the country.

While much of the MSU community agrees the building needs to be replaced, there is concern the building’s history will be lost in the transition to a new location.

“I think we’ve got to be very careful — we’ve got a lot of tradition,” MSU Trustee George Perles said of the building. “We’ve got to make sure we replace the new facility with all the sentimental and emotional things that are in it right now.”

Stephen Arch, chairperson of the English department, said while recent problems have made the building’s staff more agreeable to a new facility, everyone agrees the Morrill tradition needs to be maintained.

“Our hope is that there will be a Morrill Hall of some kind, a new one,” he said. “That is one of our concerns, given that we’re a land-grant university.”

Trustee Colleen McNamara said plans to replace Morrill Hall have been discussed for a number of years within the MSU community and that the decision to begin the replacement is bittersweet.

“As much as all of us feel particularly about Circle Drive and the buildings there and how important they are to be maintained, I think it’s really come to the point where we realize Morrill Hall has got to be taken down,” McNamara said.

Published on Sunday, September 14, 2008

[Scott Westerman]

I earned $25 bucks at good ole Morrill. Responded to an ad in the State News seeking subjects for a hypnosis experiment and went through the drill in one of the offices there. I don't remember if I actually got the money. Maybe that was all post hypnotic suggestion.

[Jeff Smith]

It's possible that, because of this experiment, you could be a "sleeper" agent, like in "Telefon". "....miles to go before I sleep."

[Dave Hanna]

I remember the office of one of my favorite professors, Clinton Burhans, Jr. of the English Department, being in Morrill. I also remember reciting the history of the Land Grant Act on the AOP tours as we passed Morrill.