East Mississippi Community College’s newly completed three-story dormitory is 42,636 square feet and houses 144 residents in 72 bedrooms. The building is a structural steel-wood framed hybrid. The exterior is brick masonry. Each of the 72 rooms include a full bathroom with ceramic tile, durable finishes, solid wood vanities with solid surface counter tops and integrated storage.

Having a sense of community is very important for the students and faculty at EMCC. On the third floor of the student housing building, there are student break-out rooms that are aluminum framed store front glass that provides a sense of community with privacy for studying. There is a full-service kitchen on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the first floor.  The hallways are wider than standard to facilitate moving, but also encourage congregating for fellowship. As the safety of the students is a top priority for the college, we installed access control devices for each dorm room, hallway, and exterior doors to allow students and staff to use their EMCC IDs for entry into designated areas.

As most projects that were underway during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, there were challenges with new regulations and the health and well being of our people working on the jobsite and managing it a way that would not slow down the project. We were able to complete the project in 16 months and have the students move in on time within the original schedule of Spring Semester in January of 2021!