Good Morning America Co-Anchor Robin Roberts, Gov. John Bel Edwards, representatives of Southeastern, and officials gathered together Thursday afternoon (Nov. 2) to celebrate the official ground-breaking for the construction of the Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center and the $40 million renovation of D Vickers Hall.
The Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center will add an additional 33,000 square feet to the 80,000 square foot academic building and will include three broadcast media studios – a newsroom, a film studio, and a multimedia studio.
The project will be paid for through state Capital Outlay funds and a sizeable donation from Roberts.
“This facility is greatly overdue, as our faculty and students have been operating with limited space,” said Southeastern President William S. Wainwright. “The new facility will greatly enhance the classroom and specialized lab space needed to provide modern instructional opportunities to our students.”
The finished 113,000-square-foot facility will continue to serve its existing academic programs in English, theatre, foreign language, and communication. However, the Communication and Media Studies department will include a major expansion of the curriculum for the cutting-edge broadcast/media facility. The new addition will feature not only film and TV studios, but also radio studios and foley and film audio studios and their associated control, support, and edit rooms.
The third floor will contain additional shared classroom spaces for all four departments within the building. A new reconfiguration of faculty office space will increase access to natural light and offer more opportunities for student/faculty collaboration.
In addition to the three broadcast media studios and upon completion of the renovation and construction, D Vickers will include 104 offices, 27 classrooms, two 100-seat lecture rooms, five computer labs, and four English/language labs.
Another major component of the renovation is a makeover of Vonnie Borden Theatre. The renovated theatre will seat 498 people and include scene and costume shops, a green room, and male and female dressing rooms.
The architect for the project is Holly and Smith of Hammond.
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