Bat infestation forces closure of building at university

MONROE, La. — The University of Louisiana Monroe has closed a building until a colony of bats can be removed.

The university’s Public Relations Director, Hope Young, says Sugar Hall will be closed until the bats and that classes and administrative offices have been moved. Young says the bats entered through vents and the ceiling.

College of Health Sciences Interim Dean Dr. Ken Alford says he and other people were coming out the building and saw bats streaming out of vents. He says there were thousands of them.

News outlets report the university has hired a nuisance animal removal company that’ll relocate the mammals without harming them.

Sugar Hall houses the Kitty DeGree Speech and Language Pathology program and clinic, health studies, gerontology, medical laboratory sciences, toxicology and dean’s offices and classrooms.