HIGHER ED IN THE HILLS: SOUTHEAST CONSIDERS MARBLE HILL SITE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION CENTER

A humorous frieze depicts a student's incorrect calculations on the exterior of the former Mayfield College arts and science building.

This frieze depicting a college student is part of the exterior decoration on the former Mayfield College arts and science building.

This columned, brick structure was once Will Mayfield College's arts and science building.

MARBLE HILL -- A 54-year-old brick building once part of a Baptist college could be reopened as a higher education center under a plan being pitched to Southeast Missouri State University.

A handful of Bollinger County business and civic leaders are exploring the idea.

Southeast President Dr. Dale Nitzschke toured the vacant building last month with Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president, and university lobbyist Marvin Proffer.

The brick structure was part of Will Mayfield College, a Baptist high school and two-year college that closed in 1934.

The three-story building was constructed in 1924 as the college's art and science building.

The building and an adjacent brick structure dating to the 1880s are all that remains of the college campus at Marble Hill.

The buildings sit atop a grassy hill on land owned by El Nathan Home Inc., which operates a retirement home on the property. It also uses the oldest of the college buildings, the former Academic Hall, in its retirement operation.

The college was purchased by Lottie Bollinger in 1942. She established the El Nathan retirement home.

Bollinger also had the art and science building renovated in the hopes of opening a hospital in the 1940s. That idea was later scrapped and the building never was used as a hospital.

Dr. John Englehart, a Marble Hill physician, is president of the El Nathan board of directors.

He is among those who would like to see the vacant art and science building turned into a higher education center.

Dave Thomas, general manager of Lutesville Motor Co., also wants to preserve it.

"It's a beautiful old building," said Thomas, who used to play in the vacant building when he was a child.

Marble Hill Mayor Ben Ellis Jr. and Jeannie Troy of the Bollinger County Historical Society are pushing the preservation effort too.

"It is a shame to allow the thing to go to pieces," said Ellis.

Troy said Marble Hill needs a higher education center to provide residents in the region easier access to college classes.

Thomas doesn't want the building to remain vacant. "It would be a big, white elephant if something is not done," he said.

The building has been vacant for most of the past 64 years. A church group used it briefly to house two Laotian families about 20 years ago.

The roof leaks and the brick exterior needs tuck-pointing.

Inside, fallen plaster trails across the floors, but the original woodwork is still in good shape, Thomas said.

Nitzschke said the university is just beginning to explore the idea of setting up a higher education center in the building.

"We are really on the ground floor," he said.

As part of the project, the building also could be used to house a library and a Southwestern Bell telecommunications center.

Nitzschke said a higher education center could offer some classroom instruction through interactive television.

No cost estimates have been made regarding the proposed project.

In a letter to Thomas, Nitzschke said the project won't move forward without private financial support.

He said the building would have to be offered to the university "free and clear."

A donor would have to provide a "substantial gift" to the university to restore and renovate the building, Nitzschke said.

No cost estimate has been made regarding such a project.

Some long-term financial commitment also would be needed from the Marble Hill community for the ongoing operation of the proposed center, he said.

That could take the form of a sales tax, Nitzschke suggested.

Ellis said the city of Marble Hill and Bollinger County government don't have the money to invest in such a project.

City officials explored the possibility of securing a historic preservation grant, but came up empty.

"Basically, it was a dead end," said Ellis.

Nitzschke said the university has made no promises in regards to the proposed project.

But he said Southeast is interested in better serving the region.

The university helps operate higher education centers in Malden, Sikeston and Perryville.

Southeast operates the Bootheel Education Center at Malden and the Sikeston center. Southeast and Three Rivers Community College at Poplar Bluff provide the instruction.

Mineral Area College manages the Perryville center. Southeast offers some courses at the facility.

Efforts are under way in Kennett to develop a higher education center in a former grocery store. Southeast also is exploring the possibility of setting up a higher education center in Ste. Genevieve, Nitzschke said.

The university president sees potential for a higher education center in Bollinger County.

"I really do believe Bollinger County is going to grow," he said.