After months of crews working near the Kyser Hall parking lot and the Athletic Fieldhouse, construction at Northwestern State University of Louisiana is still underway. The new Robert Alost Hall and the David and Sherry Morgan Health Performance Center are set to finish construction this year.
Since breaking ground in March 2023, construction on Alost remains active. Construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of the semester, and the building to be fully operational in the fall, according to Dale Wohletz, physical plant director.
As the director of the physical plant, Wohletz oversees the construction of all buildings on campus. “Once they get started, it doesn’t take them long to put it all together,” Wohletz said. “Once we start doing the exterior, the landscaping and grass, you’ll see more improvement.”
The building will replace Kyser as NSU’s main academic building. Departments including Nursing, Social Work, Mathematics, and English, Language and Cultural Studies will move into Alost for Fall 2025.
Alost will feature event space, student lounge areas, laboratory training centers, classrooms and offices for deans, department heads and other administration. Café Demon will also be relocated from Watson Memorial Library to Alost.
Thomas Reynolds, department head of English, Language and Cultural Studies, and other department faculty went on a tour of Alost in November.
“We got to see where the new department offices will be housed on the second floor,” Reynolds said. “We are moving most classes to Alost Hall in the fall and people are excited.”
After almost a decade of planning and fundraising, the Health Performance Center groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2023.
Martin Iddon, assistant athletic director for facilities and game operations, said this new addition to student-athletes will provide them with competitive training equipment and more resources to keep them healthy. “There’s going to be fully equipped weight rooms with updated equipment, a turfed sprinting area, a nutrition center and also some additional offices for our strength and conditioning staff.”
NSU athletics partnered with Natchitoches Regional Medical Center to equip the new athletic training room and add a doctor’s office in the building. Iddon explained that this not only allows treatment for student-athletes but also allows the public to be seen by NSU’s NRMC employees as well.
Construction for the Health Performance Center is anticipated to be completed in December 2025. After the finalization, further plans to redevelop the interior of the Athletic Fieldhouse will begin with an expected completion by May 2026.
