Century-old Academic Hall at Southeast Missouri State University showing its age

Rich Eichhorst walked on campus, stared up at that green dome and fell in love.

Nearly 60 years later, the Southeast Missouri State University alumnus says his affection for Academic Hall, described by many as the soul of the institution, is stronger than ever.

"It's a magnificent building. It sets the whole campus. I just love the place," said Eichhorst, 77, who today lives in Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis County.

Southeast Missourian archive This picture of Academic Hall was taken in the late 1930s or the 1940s during the years of Southeast Missouri State Teachers College, 1919-1946.

When Eichhorst began his college career in 1952, Academic Hall, atop the highest hill in Cape Girardeau, served as the center of a significantly smaller Southeast campus, much of which was surrounded by woods. The education major took most of his classes in the building, at a cost of $25 a term.

The 1956 graduate is back on campus this weekend for another Southeast Homecoming, taking in a much-improved Redhawks football team and an array of activities. On Thursday, Eichhorst said he was looking forward to seeing the building that first took his breath away so long ago.

"It's the first thing people notice when they turn off the highway [Interstate 55] onto Kingshighway. They see that copper dome, and that's an impressive sight," he said.

But the century-old Academic Hall is showing its age. The building, which houses administration, has its original plumbing, windows, roof and landmark dome. In January, pipes burst in the registrar's office, drenching tuition checks and receipts. The auditorium has been closed for several weeks due to structural stress in the balcony.

As the university moves forward on a $58.2 million campuswide renovation and maintenance plan that would include extensive upgrades to the hall, here is a look at the iconic building's past and the vision of what it could be.

'Masterpiece' on the hill

Academic Hall was born of fire in 1906.

The neoclassical-style limestone building replaced the red brick, Victorian-style Southeast Missouri State Normal School building, the original Academic Hall, which was leveled in a fire in 1902. Mark Twain, in "Life on the Mississippi," described the Normal building as situated on an "airy summit -- a bright new edifice, picturesquely and peculiarly towered and pinnacled -- a sort of gigantic casters, with the cruets all complete." While not peculiarly towered, the Normal building's replacement stands on that summit that had served as the site of a Civil War fort.

Academic Hall was designed by renowned St. Louis architect Jerome B. Legg. At 92,000 square feet and capped with a massive copper-sheathed dome, the building came in at a cost of $200,000, an astronomical figure at the time and a tab picked up mostly by the state.

"This figure was said, by critics at the time, to be twice as much as any pair of buildings on any college campus in the state of Missouri," according to Southeast's website.

Its stature continued to resonate in 1940, when the Southeast Missourian boasted that Academic Hall was an "architectural masterpiece located on a campus that gives it the honor of being the most beautiful and impressive state teachers college building in the United States."

Hard times

The building described as the symbol of the university is worn and, by Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins' assessment, a "crisis ready to happen." Ice storms wreaked havoc on the copper dome, and then vandals used the temporary scaffolding to paint graffiti on the structure. Its archaic electrical system wasn't made to handle the demands of a 21st-century college administration building, and it was built long before Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

"It's a rich part of our history. We need to preserve it," said Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration.

The renovation plan calls for $22.78 million in upgrades to Academic Hall, including the refurbishment and restoration of the historic corridors, stairwells and building exterior. The building's failing infrastructure, which last received major upgrades in 1975, would be replaced. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems would be built new, as well as the slate roof. The dome would be reclad to stop water leaks, and the the elevator would be replaced and relocated to meet ADA requirements.

The project could start as early as next summer and is expected to be completed within about three years. Construction will be disruptive, displacing the hall's varied operations. Mangels said the university is working on a transition plan that could include using Memorial Hall, which would require upgrading the building.

Students would fund a large share of the project's costs through proposed increases in fees. But administrators say the project will benefit generations of students to come, restoring Academic Hall to its historic stature while equipping it to serve the university of the future.

Eichhorst said he is excited about the possibilities for the building he has loved from the moment he laid eyes on it in 1952.

"I think it's wonderful," he said of the renovation plan. "Academic Hall is the anchor of the school."

mkittle@semissorian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO

Did you know?

* Academic Hall is adorned by light fixtures from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. They are on the main floor of the building, where the Louis Houck Statuary Collection was previously on display.

* The main floor is also decorated by mosaic tiles of bluebirds, which is the state bird of Missouri.

* For many years, the KRCU campus radio station's broadcasting tower was housed atop the academic dome, so students were allowed access to the interior of the dome. They often wrote their names or other graffiti in the rotunda.

SOURCE: Southeast Missouri State University