ECCC to dedicate new women’s dorm

Published 11:51 am Friday, August 4, 2017

East Central Community College has scheduled the dedication of its new women’s residence hall at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on the South Campus in Decatur.

The ceremony is planned near the entrance to the new facility adjacent to the existing Erma Lee Barber Women’s Residence Hall.

The ceremony will include remarks by ECCC President Billy Stewart, the chairman of the college’s Board of Trustees Jimmy Hollingsworth and Student Body Association President Makaeya Brock of Decatur. Tours of the residence hall will follow the ribbon cutting.

Funding for the $6.6 million facility came from bond revenue and financial support from each of the five counties in the college’s district, according to the college.

The three-story facility includes 56 rooms, a study area and a kitchen on each floor for student use, and a coin-operated laundry room, according to the college. The residence hall also includes wireless internet and cable TV similar to the seven other student living facilities on the ECCC campus. The lobby area includes a television and social and study space.

The exterior features a fountain and social space for students.

The building will open in time for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 14. The college has a waiting list of nearly 75 female students who wish to live on campus, according to the college. More than 700 students will be living on the Decatur campus when classes begin. 

The architect for the New Women’s Residence Hall is Eley Guild Hardy Architects of Jackson and Biloxi and the contractor is J&J Contractors of Meridian.