Demolition of Merrill Hall Set to Begin

07/19/2019

Work crews will begin arriving on site over the week of July 22 to begin the three-month process of demolishing Merrill Hall, former home to the JSU School of Business and Industry, which was destroyed in the March 2018 EF-3 tornado that struck campus. 

The university is planning a short ceremony on July 29 at 10 a.m. in front of Merrill Hall to give business faculty, staff, students and alumni the opportunity to say goodbye to the nearly 50-year-old campus icon. The event is open to the public. 

Constructed in 1970, Merrill Hall was named in honor of Rep. Hugh D. Merrill of Anniston, who was instrumental in helping change the status of JSU from a teachers’ college to a state college.

The destruction of Merrill on March 19, 2018 displaced faculty, staff and students from one of the largest units on campus, but a short-term solution was found on the site of the former Kitty Stone Elementary School. Already owned by the university and vacant, the property was converted into the School of Business and Industry Complex. However, the property is not appropriate for the long-term needs of the growing school. 

The JSU Board of Trustees approved plans on July 16 for a new 108,000-square-foot School of Business and Industry. Construction will begin following the demolition of Merrill, with an anticipated opening date of January 2021.