Faces of Ole Miss Campus, Oxford are Changing

UM and Oxford rush to ready facilities for the opening of fall semester as local entrepreneurs push community construction
You could hear a pin drop on campus this week except for dozens of dump trucks, bulldozers, multi-story cranes, cement trucks, and jack hammers as construction continues across the campus.

School resumes Aug. 25 and Ole Miss is expecting 4,000 new freshmen, it’s largest enrollment ever.
Parking, the ever-increasing problem, is of prime concern as UMAA rushes to build a more than 800-car parking garage to serve fans on football weekends and campus needs during the week. It looks to be no more than half completed and is not likely to give relief to the parking grind on campus just yet.
Two more parking garages are planned, one near the stadium to hold 180 cars and one holding 1,500 cars to be located in the wooded area behind Kincannon Hall. Contractors are working to finish several new parking areas, but whether or not they will be ready for the opening of school is something on which the bookies can make a few bucks. Campus and community observers agree all of these efforts will help but not fully resolve the parking issue as Ole Miss continues record growth.
Plan to take the bus, and plan to pay $2.00 to park as a visitor on campus.
Contractors have broken ground and are pouring the foundation for a new multi-story residence hall located beside Crosby Hall. Last year, Ole Miss added three new residence halls.
Work is moving forward on a large addition to Coulter Hall, home of the chemistry department, and a major addition to the Thad Cochran Research Building, housing the School of Pharmacy and the Research Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences. Fraternities and sororities are busy sprucing up houses while the landscape department is bringing in mulch and pine straw by the trailer truckload.
Local businesses, churches, and homes near campus are opening their lots and driveways to fans (and their cars) this

football season. According to director Eddie Willis, the Wesley Foundation, located on Jackson Ave., started clearing spaces with a bulldozer this week to accommodate more Rebels coming to campus.
Meanwhile in Oxford, at least four new hotels are in being built, including the new Downtown Inn, the Chancellor’s House boutique hotel, and two Marriott properties, one on Jackson Ave. and one near the Oxford Conference Center.
Unfortunately, these new properties won’t be operational (or even fully walled) by the start of school or football season. Check out some of Oxford’s beautiful bed & breakfasts or VRBO options while waiting for new accommodations to come online.
All of this construction may be a headache for now, but will be well worth the wait when all the projects are completed throughout the city.
Below are more photos of projects happening across campus.







– Story and photos by Jim Roberts, a contributing writer for HottyToddy.com.