HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Hundreds of criminal justice majors at Southern Miss will be going to class in the renovated Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building beginning next week.

The building, which was built in 1949, has been under renovation for the past two years as part of a plan to relocate USM’s School of Criminal Justice, Forensic Science and Security.

The State of Mississippi is funding nearly $16.6 million of the project.

USM is putting up another $570,000.

The project has also included the building of a new annex that will serve as an academic courtroom.

That annex will open next Spring.

“Facilities do matter to students,” said Allyson Easterwood, vice president for finance and administration and CFO for Southern Miss.

“They want to be in buildings that are u

See Full Page