St. Vincent's College opened in 1838 to prepare young Catholic men for the priesthood. For almost one hundred and fifty years, the institution educated seminarians, and considering their reputation for hospitality, this college overlooking the Mississippi River served as Cape Girardeau’s “front door,” giving steamboat travelers an impressive and warm welcome. Today the old seminary continues to attract travelers to the riverbank as the vibrant home for art, dance, music and theatre.
Prominent local builder Joseph Lansmon built practically all of St. Vincent’s riverfront campus, including the first building in 1843, an 1853 addition that created the structure’s “L” shape, and the signature tower between the two. He even made unexpected repairs in 1849 after 1,500 kegs of gunpowder aboard a steamboat exploded, blowing the seminary’s windows out, tearing doors from their hinges, and tilting the roof. Lansmon returned in 1850 after a tornado ripped the roof completely off the school.
In 1998, Southeast purchased the 16-acre St. Vincent’s property – vacant since 1979 – rehabilitating Jospeh Lansmon’s antebellum structures, adding modern facilities, and re-opening the complex as a thoroughly renovated Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.
The ambitious River Campus – adjacent to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge – was completed in 2007 as a prime example of what historic preservationists call adaptive reuse. The River Campus houses the Holland College of Arts and Media, Crisp Museum, Dobbins dormitories, a world-class performing arts center rehearsal rooms, and visual arts studios.
