Hinds Community College

Learning Resources Center

The History of Cain Hall

Main Auditorium was built in 1926 at a cost of $168,000 on the Raymond Campus of what is now known as Hinds Community College. One of the first buildings erected on the campus of Hinds Junior College, Main Auditorium was built in the Greek Revival style. It contained 32,965 square feet and originally housed the library, offices for the president and business manager, an auditorium, and academic classrooms. In 1952, the administrative offices moved out of Main Auditorium and when McLendon Library was completed in 1962, the library moved to its new facilities.

Main Auditorium underwent two renovations. The first renovation, to change the library area into general classrooms, was completed at a cost of $9,300 and in 1977 the building was completely renovated at a cost of $597,172. A third renovation was slated to begin in the summer of 1998 with $2 million having been appropriated by the Mississippi state legislature for the renovation.

The night of March 7, 1998, Cain Hall was destroyed by fire during a thunder storm. It is believed that the fire, which quickly swept through the building’s heart pine timbers, was initiated by lightening. Cain Hall was one of the two oldest remaining structures on the Raymond Campus and with its destruction a piece of the area’s history disappeared. Cain Hall had been utilized not only by the college’s faculty, students, and organizations but also by many community organizations, groups, and schools.

After assessing the rebuilding costs, it was determined that a new building, furnishings, and equipment would cost approximately $10.1 million. With the $2 million received from the insurance company and the $2 million already allocated for the renovation, a goal of $5 million to assist in the rebuilding of Cain Hall was set by Hinds Community College for its first capital campaign – The Campaign for Hinds. Eventually the cost for the building rose to $14.5 million. In the fall of 2000, ground breaking ceremonies were held and the construction of the new Cain Hall was begun in January of 2001.

In 2001, the late W. H. and Emma Grace Cochran were honored by adding their family name to Cain Hall which is now known as Cain-Cochran Hall. The Cochrans met at Hinds in 1930 when both were freshmen and they continued their association with Hinds throughout their lives. Both were educators in Mississippi, and Mr. Cochran served as a member of the HCC Board of Trustees from 1971 to 1976 during his tenure as superintendent of the Hinds County Public Schools. He was also a member of the College’s Development Foundation for several terms and a Hinds scholarship carries their names. Both were honored as the College’s Alumni of the Year in 1983. They are the parents of U. S. Senator Thad Cochran and Public Service Commissioner Nielsen Cochran.

On November 3, 2002, the new Cain-Cochran Hall was dedicated. The 89,000 square foot building, the largest building in the history of Hinds, was designed with two distinct areas. The classroom end of Cain-Cochran Hall contains 10 classrooms, four laboratories, and the English department offices. The largest lab, designed for students of modern foreign languages, has 40 personal computers and provides for lecturing.

The west end of the building houses a 1,100 seat auditorium which was named by the College’s Board of Trustees in 2001 for Claudia Atteberry Hogg, a patron of the arts in Mississippi and a supporter, with her husband Bill Hogg, of Hinds. Hogg Auditorium has a performance friendly sound system, a 70-foot fly space for stage performances, an open orchestra pit, dressing rooms, and a green room.

Sources:
Hindsight, Summer 1998
Hindsight, Summer 2001
Hindsight, Winter 2002-2003
hindscc.edu