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LSU’s Business Education Complex (BEC)

Louisiana State University and A & M College broke ground on March 19, 2010 for E. J. Ourso College of Business's the new Business Education Complex with an anticipated completion date of December 2011. The purpose of the BEC is to have the Business School located in one central area, thus creating a “campus within a campus” concept. The project is located on Nicholson Drive Extension next to Patrick F. Taylor Hall, formally known as Center for Engineering and Business Administration (CEBA), on LSU’s Baton Rouge campus (http://www.bus.lsu.edu/directions.asp). The BEC will consist of four state-of-the-art buildings with approximately 156,385 square feet that will be used for undergraduate and graduate students attending Business College. It will also include a large public space for dining as well as faculty offices and offices for administration staff. One of the four buildings will be dedicated to a large auditorium to be used by the Business School and the community. LSU has set up a website, “Mike the Builder”, where month-by-month progress reports and photos of the buildings are posted.

Cost/Funding
The budget for the Business Education Complex was $60 million. At a press conference in early November 2009, Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal, announced the state would commit $30 million in capital outlay funds for the new Business Education Complex. Michael V. Martin, Chancellor at Louisiana State University and A&M College, commented that, “The Business Education Complex is a visionary example of the investment of the state of Louisiana and private citizens working together with educational institutions to improve economic sustainability and workforce development for the future” (http://www.lsureveille.com/news/jindal-pledges-30-million-to-business-complex-1.2052000#.Top-V3OrXH8) & (http://www.katc.com/news/gov-jindal-announces-a-30-million-commitment-for-lsus-new-business-education-complex/). Even with the states $30 million and LSU privately raising $18 million there is a $12 million shortfall. To cover the shortfall LSU is planning to use an $8.1 million internal bridge loan that will be secured by LSU’s new revenue acquired from the Southeastern Conference’s deals with CBS and ESPN. The additional $4 million will come from the private LSU Foundation in anticipation of bequests made over the next two years. The complex is the first building on LSU’s campus that is a public-private partnership. Martin has stated with the favorable construction market he hopes the internal bridge loan of $8.1 million will not be needed.

Design of Complex


After presenting the lowest bid of $39,978,000, the Lemoine Company/ Brasfield & Gorrie was selected to construct the new, 156,385 square foot, Business Education Complex. Coleman Partners Architects designed the BEC with a blending of modern glass, metal and stone with sloped gabled roofs and arches in order to capture and reflect LSU’s Italianate architectural style. The complex will consist of four state-of-the-art buildings surrounding a 14,000 square foot exterior quadrangle. The quadrangle will be lined with covered galleries. The largest building is a four story, 56,000 square foot Rotunda. This building will be used for the Business School administration offices, and academic affairs. The ground floor will have the student’s common area, lobby and café for the Business School and the community along with a Business Disaster Recovery Command Center. The second building is a two-story structure that will be the Undergraduate Pavilion, which will include classrooms, SMART Lab and faculty offices. The third building will be known as the Graduate Pavilion and will have classrooms, study rooms, team rooms and offices for faculty. The second floor of the Undergraduate and Graduate Pavilions will contain departmental offices for Management, Marketing, ISDS, Accounting, Economics and Finance, as well as, Ph.D suites. The fourth building will be the Auditorium. This two-story, 12,600 square foot building can seat 300 people and will be used by the Business School and the community. The second floor of the Auditorium will have graduate classrooms and labs. Both Pavilions and the Auditorium will connect through covered archways on the first floor and enclosed walkways on the second floor.

Supporting the BEC
With the completion of the E.J. Ourso College of Business Education Complex coming to an end, LSU will become a world-class institution. It will allow LSU to attract the top, highest quality students and facility that in turn will help Louisiana’s economic growth. Anyone can become a part of the largest, most successful project in LSU’s one hundred and fifty year history by making a difference in students’ lives for years to come. To help LSU maintain their top-tier status any donation, small or large, can be made to www.foreverlsu.org.