River Campus: Ten Years

The River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University is seen in August, 2008. (Fred Lynch)

St. Vincent's College is seen before renovations to convert it into the River Campus in this undated photo.

Photo provided This photo was taken of the chapel area in old St. Vincent Seminary prior to the renovations done for the new River Campus.

An excavator worked July 28, 2005 on the foundation where a new performance hall would be built on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. (Fred Lynch)

Bob Cerchio, assistant director for the School of Visual and Performing Arts, stood on the stage of the performance hall at the River Campus on Dec. 1, 2006. (Fred Lynch)

The Emerson Bridge can see in the background as hot tar was put down on part of a roof of the River Campus of the Southeast Missouri State University still under construction Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007.

Cape Girardeau Noon Lions Club members toured the River Campus with assistant director Robert Cerchio, left, who discussed the renovation of the old chapel of St. Vincent's Seminary, on Jan. 31, 2007. The room will become a small performance hall. (Fred Lynch)

Catie Myer looked around in amazement at the changes done to the 1843 chapel in the old St. Vincent Seminary that is now being renovated as a concert hall for Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus. Catie Myers, of jackson, was one of two students that took hundreds of photographs for the university's historic preservation before the renovation of the building began. (Diane L. Wilson)

Catie Myer looking out of one of the 1843 bell tower windows at the old St. Vincent Seminary that is now being renovated as part of Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus. Katie Myers, of jackson, was one of two students that took hundreds of photographs for the university's historic preservation before the renovation of the building began. (Diane L. Wilson)

Earl and Margie Holland unveiled their portrait in the Robert F. and Gertrude L. Schuck Music Recital Hall during the official naming of the main River Campus venues on May 11, 2007. The River Campus will be home to the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts. (Kit Doyle)

The Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the new River Campus is still under construction in August, 2007, and is closed to students and the public. Once finished, it will seat 952 audience members. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson, left, demonstrated with Dr. Ken Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, that the city and university were dancing together with the completion of the River Campus, at the dedication Oct. 21, 2007. (Fred Lynch)

Audience members filed in and found their seats before the start of the musical "Big River" on Oct. 24, 2007, the opening night at Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Huck Finn, played by Andrew Kruep, right, meets up with Jim, played by Desmond Gray, who had been sold into slavery in "Big River." It was the first major show in the 940-seat Bedell Performance Hall in October, 2007. (Fred Lynch)

The Shaolin Warriors performed Oct. 31, 2007 on the stage of Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

One performer leaped across the stage while others crouched during the performance of the Shaolin Warriors on Oct. 31, 2007 at the River Campus. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

Liesl Schoenberger rehearsed Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra Nov. 4, 2007 at Bedell Performance Hall. (Fred Lynch)

The Moscow Ballet's "Great Russian Nutcracker" played the first of two shows in Cape Girardeau Dec. 12, 2007 at Bedell Performance Hall with an audience of 795 out of 854 tickets sold. (Fred Lynch)

A hanging sculpture by Aaron Hammontree of Central High School was part of the High School Art Exhibit which opened Jan. 27, 2008 in the Crisp Museum at the River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

Students in the Department of Theatre & Dance at Southeast Missouri State University rehearse Sept. 29, 2008 for "The 1940s Radio Hour" that was peformed in Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

Members of the cast of "Stomp" perform Oct. 21, 2008 at the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Liesl Schoenberger performs Brahms' Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op 78 with accompanist Matthew Yount on Dec. 21, 2008 in Shuck Recital Hall at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

Alexis Bowles, assistant lighting director with Cirque Eloize, works with the lighting crew for the show "Nebbia" on March 9, 2009 at Bedell Performance Hall. (Fred Lynch)

Dancers from the Department of Theatre and Dance and violinist Brandon Christensen rehearse a dance called "Sonata for Five in Fours" for Dance-Apalooza on April 15, 2009 in the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. (Elizabeth Dodd)

Audrey II in the River Campus production of Little Shop of Horrors is unveiled to the audience, and to customers of the flower shop. The show was presented Oct. 2-4, 2009 at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. (Laura Simon)

Virsky, the Ukranian National Dance Company, performed Oct. 17, 2009 at Southeast Missouri State University's Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus. Their were over 500 in attendance for the tour of the ministry of culture and fine arts of Ukraine.

The Moscow Ballet performed "The Great Russian Nutcracker" Dec. 14, 2009 at the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. More than 40 local children participated in the sold-out ballet. (Laura Simon)

The citizens of Munchkinland sing around Dorothy Gale and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North during a touring performance of "The Wizard of Oz" on Jan. 27, 2010 in the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. (Laura Simon)

Neal E. Boyd sings "Somewhere" from West Side Story with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 5, 2010 at Bedell Performance Hall. Boyd was the guest artist at the sold-out symphonic pops concert. (Fred Lynch)

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel," a production of Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Theatre and Dance, opened Feb. 24, 2010 at the Bedell Peformance Hall on the River Campus. The performance features guest director Dennis Courtney from New York City. (Laura Simon)

Maestro Alexei Kornienko conducts the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra through "Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture in B minor" during a performance at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus on Friday, March 5, 2010. The Orchestra also played other Russian masterpieces including "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43" and "Scheherazade, Op. 35." The venue sold 539 presale tickets for this event. (Kristin Eberts)

TAO The Martial Art of Drumming performs "AOKIKAZE" to 677 ticket holders Saturday, March 6, 2010 in the Donald C. Bedell Perfromance Hall on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. (Laura Simon)

Garrison Keillor sings during his appearance May 5, 2010 at the Bedell Performance Hall. (Laura Simon)

Southeast Missouri State University students take the stage Feb. 23, 2011 during the first scene of a performance of "Anything Goes" at the Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus in Cape Girardeau. (Kristin Eberts)

Actors perform during Monty Python's "Spamalot" March 25, 2011 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. (Kristin Eberts)

"Blast!" cast members perform "Ouverture" during Act I of their show Oct. 19, 2011 at the Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. (Kristin Eberts)

Kim Richards confiscates a cellphone from the audience Dec. 11, 2011 while performing "Sister's Christmas Catechism" at Bedell Performance Hall on the River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

Students in the fall semester Opera Workshop class at Southeast Missouri State University perform Mozart's comic opera "Cosi fan Tutte" Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 at Bedell Performance Hall. In this scene, the ensemble of townspeople and servants of London bid two officers who are friends of Don Alfonso, with arms raised, an aged cynic played by Timothy Schmidt, adieu in anticipation of great military triumphs. Fiordiligi, played by Megan Statler, kisses her fiance, Guglielmo, played by Adam J. Bradt, while Ferrando, played by Aaron Lerma, says goodbye to his fiancee, Dorabella, played by Katherine Shay. The opera was first performed in Vienna in 1790. The local production was repositioned from 1750s Italy to England, circa 1800. (Fred Lynch)

Dmitry Romanov, left, and Alexander Yakovlev dance the parts of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as the Moscow Festival Ballet performs 'Don Quixote' Friday, April 27, 2012 in the Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. (Adam Vogler)

Rick Springfield performs Saturday, July 21, 2012 at the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus as part of a fundraiser for Hoops for Life. the proceeds benefitted pediatric brain tumor research in memory of Sahara "Hoops" Aldridge. The 13-year-old Cape Girardeau resident lost her battle with brainstem glioma Nov. 5, 2007. (Adam Vogler)

The cast of Grease sings "Summer Nights" with Danny, played by Michael Burrell, and Sandy, played by Stefanie Kluba, during a rehearsal Sept. 20, 2012 by Southeast Missouri State University students at the Bedell Performance Hall. (Fred Lynch)

Titanic's architect amazes passengers with his story of "How Did They Build Titanic?" in Titanic: The Musical on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 at Bedell Performance Hall. (Kenneth L. Stilson)

Concert pianist Jack Gibbons rehearses Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 with the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra conducted by music professor Sara Edgerton. The concert was presented Oct. 9, 2012 in the Bedell Performance Hall. (Fred Lynch)

Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama perform Thursday, October 18, 2012 at the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. (Adam Vogler)

The handball court at the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus is seen Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. The court, which University officials say is not structurally sound, was built around 1843 and is the oldest handball court west of the Mississippi River. (Adam Vogler)

Robert Conger leads the Southeast Missouri State University Studio Jazz Band on Feb. 6, 2013 inside the River Campus' Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. (Laura Simon)

Demolition of the handball court continues at the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University on Wednesday afternoon, March 13, 2013 in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Dr. Sara Edgerton conducts the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra and the Southern Illinois Symphony in "Prelude to Die Meistersinger," an overture by German composer Richard Wagner, to open the Symphonic Spectacular in Bedell Performance Hall on April 29, 2013 at the River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

Judith Farris, center, as Sister Mary Regina, rehearses "Turn Up the Spotlight" on June 5, 2014 with fan dancers, from left, Laura Liefer, Hannah Lundy, Alyssa Cooper, front, and Michelle Contrino, in a scene from "Nunsense." The musical comedy was performed June 19 through 22 and June 26 through 29 in the Rust Flexible Theatre on the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. (Fred Lynch)

The cast of Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Theatre and Dance's production of "Hairspray" rehearse, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. (Laura Simon)

Concrete is poured Oct. 9, 2013 for the lower-level mechanical room of the expansion of Southeast Missouri State University«s River Campus in Cape Girardeau. Samron Midwest Contracting Inc. is the concrete subcontractor. Once the expansion is completed, the three-story, 93,745-square-foot building will have room for 184 beds, 13 faculty offices, art and dance studios and a dining space for 120 people. (Laura Simon)

"Caelifera" is a sculpture by Lexie McClanahan, Cape Girardeau Central High School, seen Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015 at the opening of the 37th annual High School Art Exhibition at the River Campus. (Fred Lynch)

After a dedication ceremony, people walk over to the Kenneth & Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center for the ribbon cutting Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. (Fred Lynch)

Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins and his wife, Jeanine Larson Dobbins, cut a ceremonial ribbon Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 after a dedication ceremony for the Kenneth & Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center. From left are regent Thomas M. Meyer, Board of Regents president Doyle Privett, Jeanine and Kenneth Dobbins, Board of Regents vice-president Kendra Neely-Martin, regent Jay B. Knudtson, regent Donald G. LaFerla, student representative Austin Cordell and Student Government president Caleb Cockrill. (Fred Lynch)

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny speaks during "The State of Cardinals Nation," presented by First Missouri State Bank Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015 at the Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus. (Glenn Landberg)

High-school athletes pose for pictures at the close of the Semoball Awards Saturday, July 9, 2016 at Bedell Performance Hall. (Fred Lynch)

Cidney Woodson, as Blanche, right, and Emmani Cunningham, as Eunice, rehearse a scene in "A Streetcar Named Desire" Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016 at the Rust Flexible Theatre. (Fred Lynch)

Dancers perform "The Spectacular Six" during Act I of the Fall for Dance performance Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 at the River Campus at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. (Andrew J. Whitaker)