Director’s Message

 

The University Center, located on 11 acres on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana
University, is a truly versatile facility. The attractive octagon-shaped building,
which opened in 1982 at a cost of $16.3 million, can comfortably host any event from
small club meetings and wedding receptions to conferences, trade shows, seminars,
graduations and big name concerts. The Center has hosted many internationally known
entertainers including Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis and the
Commodores.

The Center has parking spaces for approximately 2,500 cars either at the Center itself
or in adjacent and nearby areas.

The Center’s three levels include the 15,000 square foot arena that is surrounded
by 7,561 fixed seats arranged in two tiers with space for approximately 40 wheelchairs.
The arena floor can accommodate 1,400 moveable seats.

The Center features in-house sound and electrical system for arena programs, a 1,728
square foot maximum portable stage and a portable basketball court. There are 16 entrances
to the building, 32 doors and three ticket booths with six stations. The building
is completely accessible to the handicapped.

The plaza or second level emphasizes meeting and entertainment space and features
multi-purpose meeting areas that can accommodate groups up to 90 people. The plaza
level also includes an “Actor’s Suite” that has three dressing rooms, two elevators,
eight public restrooms and two 65-foot concession stands.

The ground floor houses the attractive “Hammond Room,” a dining area that can accommodate
approximately 240 people.

Also on the ground floor area are additional meeting rooms that can accommodate groups of 30 to 190 people. The rooms include two auditoriums,
one without fixed seating that can be arranged for a variety of events; the other
with 190 raised auditorium seats.

The Center also has satellite downlink capabilities. All of the ground floor meeting
rooms are equipped to receive televised programs for conferences and classes. In addition,
the University Center now has capabilities to originate and view compressed video
classes, lectures, and seminars.

The huge Center also houses a number of administrative offices for the University,
including a complete basketball office complex and two television studios.