Rust College has asked the Marshall County Board of Supervisors to support application for an $800,000 grant to help restore five historic buildings on the former Mississippi Industrial College campus.

The property was given to Rust College a year or so ago for management and redevelopment.

Clencie Cotton, with the Rust College Community Development Corp., also asked for $10,000 over three years from the county.

Rust is a historically black college in Holly Springs with an enrollment of about 900.

The MIC property is listed on the 10 most endangered treasures of the state, Cotton said.

“The Northeast Mississippi MI College Preservation Association wants to use the museum and five-building complex as a cultural area and museum,” he said.

Cotton said Rust wants $393,000 for an architectural assessment and would like to restore Carnegie Auditorium and to increase seating from 2,000 to 6,000.

He said the auditorium could be used as a regional performance center for the arts.

Rust College has offered to provide a site on the property to the county to build an office complex, including space for a new WIN Job Center.

Cotton said an architectural assessment would include designing a prospective office building for the county, and must done before potential investments in the properties can be made.

Supervisors said they would consider the proposal.