A donation of $102,000 helped Nicholls meet their goal of $1.5 million to renovate Talbot hall and the Mary M. Danos Theater.
Al Danos, his daughters, grandchildren and Sen. Norby Chabert made the announcement during the intermission of the Monster Piano Concert on Tuesday night.
According to Danos, the original plan was just to renovate the theater, but a new idea was proposed to revamp all of Talbot Hall along with it.      
Danos was told to raise $1.5 million, and the capital outlay request of $4 million would cover the rest of the cost in state money. Through what Danos calls “rock solid pledges” and “generous donators,” they were able to raise the funds in a very short amount of time.     
The last of the money was raised at the recent board meeting for the Nicholls Foundation. One board member donated a total of $100,000 and another board member donated the remaining $2,000.      
“Senator Norby Chabert played a big roll in the fundraising efforts, and we cannot thank him enough,” Danos said.      
Chabert also handled much of the capital outlay request for the renovations of the building.      
 “I spent much of my time as a student at Nicholls in Talbot Hall,” Chabert said. “I was a DJ for KNSU, and I was very involved in the productions held in the Mary M. Danos Theater. My heart is definitely here in this building, and I was so happy to help.”
An architect will be hired by the end of this month, and the designs for the renovations will be ready by the end of the year, according to Danos.     
“Students should expect to see minor changes within the next few months, but major changes will start to happen at the beginning of next year,” Chabert said.