River Campus opens to more than 130 students

With the official opening of Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus Center on Thursday, the university is able to fill more of its housing needs.

"It allows us some good flexibility across the campus to be able to meet what students are looking for in different styles of housing, so at this point we do not have any plans to add any additional new facilities," director of Residence Life Kendra Skinner said. She said officials hope to focus on renovations and improvements instead.

The River Campus Center will be home to more than 130 students this fall, below its 180-student capacity. Skinner said this has happened before when the university has opened new buildings different from others on campus, such as Merrick and Vandiver halls.

"Now that we have the building open and how nice it could be to have classes just steps away from where you live, I think we'll see more students in the future choose to live there," Skinner said.

The 90,000-square-foot structure is north of the original Convocation Center and Seminary Building, forming the completion of a River Campus quad. The hall is open to any Southeast student, but the majority will study music, art, theater and dance. Classes also will be held in the complex, which makes it convenient.

Construction of the new patio at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus Center continues Tuesday. It's scheduled to be finished next month. (Laura Simon)

On Monday, Skinner said 70 students already had moved in. Official move-in day was Thursday.

During a tour Tuesday, director of Facilities Management Angela Meyer showed visitors the directing/acting studio that had props in it for theater productions, and the dance studio, the floor of which was bought the same time the original River Campus facility was built.

"It's moved multiple times," Meyer said. "Now it's in its permanent home."

Next door is the choral rehearsal room, which has enough riser space to accommodate 120 to 150 singers. Acoustics in the room are space-specific to ensure it has the right sound when singers practice, Meyer said.

The art education classroom on the mezzanine level originally was housed in Serena Hall on the main campus, Meyer said. The height of the rooms needed for choral rehearsal and dance made a mezzanine level possible between the first and second floors, Meyer said.

Part of the second floor houses faculty offices for acting/directing, music, art and dance, plus practice rooms for students. The Music Academy at Southeast Missouri State University, at Brandt Hall, also will have space at the new building. Marching band is the only musical group remaining at Brandt, Meyer said.

Student lounges with full kitchen facilities and a pool table are on the second and third floors, along with laundry facilities. A fitness center, open to River Campus Center residents and faculty with Student Recreation Center memberships, is on the third floor with treadmills, stationary bicycles, free weights, cardio balls and other exercise equipment.

The River Campus Center cafeteria will serve three meals a day Monday through Friday, Skinner said. Dinner will be served Saturdays and Sundays, but residents will have to go to the main campus for brunch on weekends, she added.

A patio area with outdoor seating is still being worked on, but officials said it should be finished next month.

Heading into a suite that has a maximum capacity of four students, Skinner pointed out a 32-inch TV, kitchenette with full-size refrigerator, sink, furniture, beds and a shared bathroom. She said beds in the suite are the same type as on the main campus and are "bunkable and loftable."

Bedrooms have two closets, desks and dressers, Skinner said.

Some students, like Austin Weber, Abigail Crockett and Anna Ricci, had started settling in.

Weber, a sophomore music composition major from Mexico, Missouri, said the River Campus Center accommodations were "pretty good."

"It's a lot better than where I was last year," Weber said, referring to Merrick Hall. "They're closer to where all my classes are. It's definitely going to be better than living in the other part of campus."

Crockett and Ricci, roommates from Memphis, Tennessee, who attended St. Agnes Academy, said the new building was "gorgeous." Crockett said as soon as they heard about the new accommodations, they wanted to live there.

"I love it. ... The dorm is so pretty ... My parents didn't want to leave," said Crockett, a musical theater major.

Ricci, an acting major, also likes the new building, noting its convenience. She was auditioning for three fall shows.

"It's really homey in our dorm. It's fun because when we're together, we just get along very well. It just works," Ricci said.

River City Construction of Peoria, Illinois, was general contractor on the building with at least 20 subcontractors, "if not more," Meyer said. Its budgeted cost was $23,284,000.

Aspects of historic St. Vincent's College and Seminary, predecessor to the River Campus, can be viewed. The original St. Vincent's sign and bricks from a handball court carved with seminarians' initials are in the foyer, meshing with the exterior red brick.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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