Lion Village, a four-story, three-wing building located at the northern edge of  Missouri Southern State University’s complex of dormitories, covers approximately 92,000 square feet. The $20 million project was funded from bond sales. Before their June 2021 meeting, members of the Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors toured the nearly completed $20 million residence hall that now houses an estimated 304 students.

We Meet Our Deadlines

R.E. Smith Construction was able to serve as the construction manager and contractor of the project. Construction, which began roughly around February 2020 was completed in August 2022 despite all of the drawbacks and shortages the pandemic brought us.

We were able to meet our deadline of August first,” Erwin said. “R.E. Smith has really been working hard through all of the challenges like weather, the pandemic, material shortages.”

The Details

The new residence hall offers three types of housing this school year: suites, traditional and private styles. There are 32 suites and 88 traditional and private rooms. Occupants will also have unlimited access to the two laundry rooms located on each floor.

“I’m very excited for our students to receive the support they need for success and student engagement this fall,” MSSU President Dean Van Galen said during the tour. Josh Doak, previous director of residence life at MSSU, said more common spaces were added to the residence hall to focus on aspects like community student engagement. “With our older facilities, we’ve lacked those spots here. We’re very focused on students coming and being able to study or gather.”

Construction Through the Pandemic

Clint Walton, vice president of R.E. Smith, commented that we were fortunate enough to not shut down construction and maintain operations during the pandemic. We did this by implementing lots of safety precautions.

“We never shut down.” Walton said. We were careful to social distance, which in construction is kind of difficult because sometimes it takes two people or more in a tight space. But we came up with a lot of standards, and it worked well for us.” The final stages of the project involved our team finishing ceilings, painting, flooring, as well installing cabinets and appliances.

Contact Us

This residents hall was expertly designed and constructed by our amazing team here at R.E. Smith Construction. If you’d like to see more photos of our projects or contact us about a project you need a contractor for. Get in touch with us on our website.