Arkansas Tech University has received a $1.7 million grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC) that will fund an interior and exterior renovation of Hughes Hall on the ATU campus in Russellville.
Once complete, the Hughes Hall renovations will allow personnel from the ATU Division of Administration and Finance to have office space in the building. Most notably, it will allow personnel currently located at the 404 N. El Paso Ave. off-campus building to return to an on-campus facility.
“The opportunity to have operating areas such as accounting and the controller’s office, accounts payable, payroll, purchasing, travel, budget and post-award grants back on campus will increase our institutional efficiency and help the personnel in those areas be more connected with their colleagues across the university,” said Suzanne McCall, ATU vice president for administration and finance. “Hughes Hall is an ideal solution because it allows us to achieve that goal while simultaneously preserving an historic building that is a big part of Arkansas Tech’s past and its future. We are grateful to the ANCRC for its partnership and its commitment to ensuring that facilities such as Hughes Hall continue to serve the people of Arkansas.”
In December 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) approved an application from Arkansas Polytechnic College for funds to construct an on-campus armory dormitory in conjunction with the Arkansas National Guard.
Constructed at a cost of $34,473, the distinctive stone building was completed in 1940. It included storage space for Arkansas National Guard equipment and dormitory rooms. The WPA provided a $20,817 grant for the project. The remaining $13,656 was provided by Arkansas Tech. Finishing costs of $4,680 were provided by a second WPA grant, which was awarded on Oct. 20, 1940.
The Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees voted in October 1954 to name the armory dormitory, commonly referred to as the Rock Dormitory, as Hughes Hall. It was formally dedicated at Homecoming 1955 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 18, 1992.
The building’s namesake, Claude A. Hughes, served on the Arkansas Polytechnic College faculty from 1927-59 and was the standard bearer for the institution’s agricultural roots for more than three decades. The Future Farmers of America chapter at ATU is named in honor of Hughes and Joseph W. Hull, who served as Arkansas Tech president from 1932-67.
Hughes Hall has fulfilled multiple functions over its 85 years of service to Arkansas Tech. After serving as a dormitory for many years, it was converted to a machine shop for the engineering program and it later provided shop space for the ATU physical plant. It was returned to service as a residence hall in 2009 following an early 21st century enrollment boom at ATU.
The interior renovation of Hughes Hall will include installation of new hollow metal door frames for new openings, replacing and upgrading interior finishings, supplementing existing mechanical and electrical renovation, modifying fire suppression system to support the building layout and upgrading the fire alarm system. Laundry rooms and showers that were utilized during the building’s residence hall era will be removed.
As for the exterior of Hughes Hall, improvements will include natural stone façade cleaning, crack patching and tuckpointing, cleaning of pre-cast concrete window sills, tuckpointing concrete stairs and landings, an historic window restoration, roof replacement and decking repairs as required and the repair and/or repainting of soffits, handrails and dormers.
McCall said the Hughes Hall renovation will begin on Oct. 1, 2025, and the project is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2026.
