The ISU campus has received a number of remodeling jobs this summer, including the new steps leading to Beardshear Hall, more bathrooms in Hilton Coliseum and an updated Knoll after its $1.5 million renovation. But one building on campus will remain the same, as it has for many years.

Morrill Hall, one of Iowa State’s first buildings, was just one topic of conversation at a presentation titled “Restoration of Campus Landmarks,” which was part of Alumni Days.

During the seminar, alumni questioned why some university projects have become a priority while Morrill Hall has been left untouched.

Morrill Hall is not a university priority for a number of reasons, said Dean Morton, university architect of facilities planning and management.

For a campus building or landmark to be a priority “there must be a need and [it must be] compelling,” he said.

“The administration must feel that this is an important thing we are going to do,” Morton said.

Interim President Richard Seagrave said there are two reasons why the administration is not renovating Morrill Hall – the excessive cost and a lack of ideas about Morrill’s future.

“It would cost, with modern safety requirements, around $9 million to renovate Morrill Hall,” Seagrave said.

He said certain buildings must be kept in good condition because they are critical to university operations. “We have no choice but to keep buildings like Beardshear and the Knoll in shape,” he said.

The state legislature funds a new building or one remodeling project each year, he said, and there are too many other projects going on now to get funding from the state to remodel Morrill Hall.

Seagrave also said the administration does not have a good idea of what to do with Morrill Hall even if it decided to remodel the building.

“There is no stimulus to move [Morrill Hall] up the priority list,” he said.

He said there has been tremendous support from older alumni to fix the building.

“There are, however, no checks in the letters,” Seagrave said.

He said the university must find donations through the ISU Foundation for at least half of the cost of remodeling. So far, there are no prospects of more than $1 million. “You can’t start things that you can’t finish,” he said.

Seagrave said he thinks it is kind of sad that “[Morrill Hall] is in a state of severe disrepair and maintenance. The administration understands that it is an important part of [ISU] heritage.”

This isn’t the first time Morrill Hall’s purpose has been debated.

The Board of Regents minutes in the January 1870 meeting stated “next to the men that teach its students and to the men that control its affairs the library and museum are the most important means of building up a great institution.”

It took 20 years, however, before the state legislature decided to fund and start construction in 1890. The cost of the building’s construction at that time was only $28,404. The name Morrill Hall was chosen to honor Sen. Justin Smith Morrill, the author of the 1862 Morrill Bill establishing the land-grant college system.

Morrill Hall has served many purposes. It once housed a chapel and the departments of zoology, entomology and geology. The basement once held a gymnasium and a barbershop.

“If I could have done anything during my administration, I would have done something about Morrill Hall,” Seagrave said.