Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 6/2/99
      Contact:                           Tim Ardillo

SOUTHEASTERN BREAKS GROUND ON NEW CLASSROOM BUILDING
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University broke ground today (6/2/99) on its
new $10.2 million classroom and laboratory building which will be located on North Oak Street
near the War Memorial Student Union and D. Vickers Hall.
     The new three-story building will be home to the departments of sociology, social work
and criminal justice, history and government, mathematics and computer science. The new
facility will also house approximately 120 faculty and departmental offices as well as the Dean
of
Arts and Sciences.
     Southeastern President Sally Clausen said she is very happy that the new building is at the
beginning of the construction phase.
     "We have had a critical space deficit on our campus for some time now," Clausen said.
"The new facility will provide needed instructional space and give our faculty members the
appropriate office facilities that they need."
     Clausen continued, "I especially want to thank our Florida Parishes legislative delegation
who worked very hard to secure funding to make this project a reality for Southeastern."
     Clausen pointed out that this new construction, while exciting, will also bring challenges
in terms of parking and traffic flow, but as she stated to students following the groundbreaking,
"Bear with us -- you are paying for progress!"
     According to Michael Rickenbaker, director of facility planning at Southeastern, the new
classroom and laboratory building is expected to be completed in October of 2000.
     "The first floor will consist of three large auditorium style classrooms holding at least 125
people in each as well as computer laboratories," Rickenbaker said. "The second floor will have
several smaller classrooms. Faculty offices will be on the third floor."
     The last academic classroom building to be constructed at Southeastern was the Charles
Emery Cate Teacher Education Center in 1973.      
     The contractor for the new classroom and laboratory building is TCC Contractors, Inc. of
Thibodaux, La. and the architect is Holly and Smith Architects, Inc. of Hammond
                              -30-