The groundbreaking ceremony for D Vickers Hall and the Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center was held on Nov. 2, with Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, SLU President William Wainwright, UL System President Jim Henderson and SLU President Emeritus John Crain in attendance. 

The event commemorated the ongoing $40 million renovation of D Vickers Hall. The project is meant to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, as well as update the building with a modern design. 

The renovation will add the Robin Roberts Broadcast Media Center, a cutting-edge media and broadcast facility named in honor of the alumna. 

“Every time I’m back on this campus, I’m eighteen years old again with big eyes, big dreams and big hair. While the optics may have changed, the Southeastern spirit has not,” Roberts said. 

Roberts said she was motivated to pursue her education at SLU with the promise of having a communication department and degree program. Prior to Roberts’ senior year, SLU did not have this. Following Roberts’ graduation, SLU has expanded its communication department and provided more opportunities and tools for students pursuing a similar path. 

Gov. Edwards spoke about the importance of having an up-to-date environment that students and faculty can access and use without the wear and tear of the building interfering with a classroom’s learning environment.

“These renovations are necessary because we want to ensure that students have access to an absolute, state-of-the-art learning environment,” Edwards said. 

SLU president Wainwright shared the renovation was brought together by multiple figures lending support for the education of students on campus. The efforts of numerous individuals in the community helped to make the project possible.  

“A historic investment in infrastructure and mission honoring the past and celebrating our future, a public investment brought to fruition of Louisiana leaders representative of resilience and progress and a private investment by a remarkable individual who lives Southeastern’s core values of excellence and care,” Wainwright said.

Former president Crain talked about his class experiences in D Vickers Hall as a former student at SLU and how the renovation project was a long time coming.

“In 1979, the building was already beginning to show some wear and tear and age. In the hot season, the HPAC did not work very well so the classes were very warm and things were starting to look rough around the edges,” Crain said. 

In addition to the new broadcast center, renovations include classroom space for the four departments, including 104 offices, two 100-seat lecture rooms, 27 classrooms, five computer labs and four English and foreign language labs.

The building will add new media studios consisting of a film, TV and radio studio. An additional 33,000 square feet will be added to the existing 80,000 square feet of building space. The Vonnie Borden Theatre will receive new costume and scene shops, a green room, a male and female dressing room and 498 seats. 

The project is being overseen by Holly and Smith Architects, Frank A. Anzalone General Contractors Inc. and the university’s Facility Planning Department. Vice President of Direct Design Pierre Theriot explained the initial design process took place long before the renovation process began.

“It’s a process that takes a good bit of time and it usually starts out with a bunch of meetings. We knew certain departments would be in the building and remaining as they were before for the most part, but the broadcast media section was a huge increase in use of the building,” Theriot said.

The renovation will serve as a way of modernizing the layout of the building, making it feel cohesive with the War Memorial Student Union’s design. Holly and Smith worked with the university in modernizing other buildings on campus including Fayard Hall in 2000 and the War Memorial Student Union in 2010. The modernized design of the building along with the interior additions will ensure that students and faculty can thrive in an up-to-date learning environment.