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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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