Instead of housing top state officials, Hatcher Hall soon will be home to the College of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Hatcher Hall, former headquarters of Gov. Kathleen Blanco, began renovations on Jan. 15.
Facility Services Director Emmett David said the renovation of the basement and first floor of Hatcher began after the Blanco Transition Team moved, just before Blanco’s inauguration last week.
Facility Services will complete the project in December 2004, and the College of Music and Dramatic Arts will temporarily move in for 36 months until the renovation of its building is complete.
The Communication Disorders department, which will move to Hatcher Hall with the School of Music and Dramatic Arts, will permanently stay in the basement of Hatcher after M&DA moves out.
Ronald Ross, M&DA dean, said the renovation of the M&DA building is a $19.5 million project. The building will be gutted and remodeled, similar to the renovation of the Journalism Building on Fieldhouse Drive.
“It is going to be a total renovation of a 1934 Art Deco building,” Ross said. “They will be restoring it in Art Deco style, but with technological advancements compatible with the 21st century.”
The M&DA building is the oldest building on campus. David said its renovation will take two years, but the results will be long-lasting.
“The Music and Dramatic Arts building will have a new life,” David said. “We will get another 50 or 100 years use out of the building.”
In preparation for the Blanco Transition Team, the first temporary guests to Hatcher Hall, David said Facility Services made minor preparations.
“There were minimum changes; some painting and cleaning, and we put in some more security cameras,” David said. “It is not hard to find 10 or 12 empty rooms on this campus for a public official to use.”
The temporary use of a University building by a governor started with Gov. Buddy Roemer, whose transition headquarters were in Pleasant Hall. Every governor since then has used Pleasant Hall, until Kathleen Blanco.
Blanco and her transition team moved into Hatcher Hall shortly after her election in November.