New residence hall, renovated building prepare for Southeast students

The sounds of drills, saws and hammers will not ring across the Southeast Missouri State University campus much longer.

The school has undergone major construction during the last two years to renovate some buildings and erect a new one. According to Kathy Mangels, vice president of finance and administration with the university, most of the projects were a direct result of the university's growing student population.

"It was part of the driver, especially in terms of residence space," she said.

When students move back to campus this year, beginning Thursday, some of them will be settling in to the university's newest residence hall. Completed this summer, New Hall, as it will be called until it's given an official name, is on the north side of campus and holds 262 beds.

"It has a lot of interesting features," Mangels said. "It has learning communities on each floor, which means there is a central theme that all the students share, such as the same major or even a common interest."

Southeast Missouri State University's new residence hall, as seen on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, will be bustling with activity when students move in for the semester on Thursday. The residence hall has a capacity of 262 students. (Laura Simon)

The second floor, for example, is the Teachers of Tomorrow floor and exclusively houses education majors. The floor is divided and provides student living areas on one side and the main lobby with a front desk and a classroom on the other. Mangels said the university would eventually like to hold an actual class there, possibly a UI100 course, a required introductory course for new Southeast students.

Another unique feature of New Hall is the "energy dashboard." Located in the main lobby, the touch-screen board shows the building's water and electricity use, among other features, such as the weather.

Although it may pale in comparison to an interactive dashboard, the new residence hall also has a parking lot with spaces for about 50 vehicles. Jade Peel, a sophomore at Southeast, lived on campus in Towers North last year and will live in Towers West this year -- a short walk from New Hall. He said as a student, he appreciates any additional parking spaces.

"The parking, that's where you really do see how many people go here," he said. "It can be a struggle to find a parking spot, so even a small parking lot helps."

New Hall also is near Magill Hall, which houses many of the university's science labs. It recently opened after two years of renovations.

Renovations and additions to Southeast Missouri State University’s Magill Hall of Science, as seen Friday, are complete. (Laura Simon)

"Magill was completed earlier this summer and we were actually able to hold summer classes in there," Mangels said. "The classrooms were completely renovated, all the windows were replaced and we also added four new classrooms and a computer lab."

The renovation began in the summer of 2011 and Mangels said only portions of the building were closed at one time in order to keep the rest of the building in use. Peel said the construction made access to the building and other facilities difficult at times.

"It definitely meant you had to take a longer walk than normal," he said. "I had to leave a little earlier for some of my classes to get there in time."

Peel, who has a class in Magill this semester, said he's looking forward to going to class without walking around the construction. For the first half of the semester, however, he still will be walking around the construction of Academic Hall.

Academic Hall was renovated to replace pipes and electrical systems and update its offices and the auditorium. The oxidized copper dome also received a makeover, with a shiny new exterior and a skylight window to provide those inside with a view from one of the highest points in the city.

Renovations and additions to Southeast Missouri State University's Magill Hall of Science, as seen on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, are complete. Fall classes begin Monday, Aug. 26. (Laura Simon)

Academic Hall again will be home of the president's, vice presidents' and provost's offices, and will welcome a new tenant, the Department of Communication Studies. The department classes and faculty offices currently are in the Grauel Building, alongside the English, mass media and communication disorder departments.

Mangels said offices, classrooms and group study areas for the communication studies department will be on the third floor of Academic Hall, which will open in October during homecoming week.

"Classes are scheduled to begin there in the spring 2014 semester," she said. "We'll start moving the departments in right after homecoming, but it will take through the first week of January to get everyone moved back into the building."

The renovations to Academic and Magill halls, as well as updating the campus boiler plant to use natural gas instead of coal, were funded by the issuance of $59.25 million in bonds, approved by the university's board of regents in December 2010. Mangels said the university also received grants for Magill Hall, which funded some of the new equipment for the forensics lab.

Bonds also were issued for the new residence hall, a $24.5 million facility. The new building and Magill Hall came in under budget, Mangels said, and those funds will be directed to the construction of a new residence hall on the university's River Campus.

Renovations and additions to Southeast Missouri State University's Magill Hall of Science, as seen on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, are complete. Fall classes begin Monday, Aug. 26. (Laura Simon)

She also said the improvements were a "cooperative effort across the campus by faculty, staff and the students" for understanding the need to update facilities and being patient throughout the construction.

Peel said despite the inconvenience of the construction, he believes students will benefit from it.

"It's nice to look at the buildings and how they're designed, but with the construction all you see is fences and plastic and cones," he said. "It will be nice to finally look at what we missed out on last year."

Dempster Hall, which was damaged after a July roof fire, also will be open for classroom use when class begins next week. Mangels said 10 offices, a faculty lounge and restrooms that sustained some water damage will remain closed until October, but all classrooms will be open.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Mo.