Demolition work began in earnest on Monday on McClelland Dining Hall on East College Avenue.
In December, it was announced that then owner Mike Hayes of Jacksonville had donated the building to Our Savior Parish and Routt Catholic High School. At that time, representatives of the school and the Catholic Diocese of Springfield were to determine the building’s structural integrity before establishing a committee made up of school community members to figure out a use for the building.
In late Feburary, the leadership of the parish decided it was not economically viable to restore the building and began the process to raze it.
McClelland Dining Hall was built during a 20-year growth period at MacMurray College in 1929. Two dormitories, the Henry Pfieffer Library, Kathryn Hall, and Annie Merner Chapel were all built during that era. McClelland served both as a place of function for students to eat as well as a place for formalities – hosting numerous dances, receptions, and events – including the annual Jacksonville Kiwanis Pancake and Sausage Day. The building was named after the 8th president of MacMurray College Dr. Clarence McClelland who started his career just 4 years prior to the building’s construction in 1925. McClelland spent 27 years with the college, helping to increase its endowment and double its enrollment. He was largely responsible for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt coming to the campus to speak in 1947.
Tragedy struck the building in the early morning hours of June 9, 2024 when a fire gutted the eastern addition to the building that housed the modern kitchen, which saw renovations in the early 2000s prior to the college’s closing.