Live Oak Hall groundbreaking ushers in new film sound stage, TV studio

Staff Reports

SAN MARCOS – Texas State University hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, Aug. 16, to mark the start of construction on the university’s new Live Oak Hall.

President Denise M. Trauth delivered remarks at the event. The ceremony took place near the intersection of Sessom Drive and Peques Street in San Marcos.

The 10,291 square-foot building is expected to be operational by fall 2022.

The $10 million facility, which will serve approximately 600 students and faculty of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, will feature a film sound stage, TV studio, recording mix classroom, editing lab, Foley room for sound effects and offices.

The building is a response to the growing film program in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Theatre enrollment has increased 53% over the previous five years, and the new facilities will allow Texas State to meet the growing demand for the film concentration. 

Live Oak Hall gives the School of Journalism and Mass Communication a dedicated television studio for the first time. For 30 years, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication has rented studio space from Alkek Library to teach video production and television news courses. This new studio, control room and media lab will help ensure that Texas State maintains its stature as a professionally accredited program. The new television studio will also serve as the home of “Bobcat Update,” an award-winning and campus-oriented newscast produced by students who major in electronic media. Sports and interview programs will also be produced in the new studio.

The film sound stage and television studio will be equipped with green screen technology. The sound recording classroom will include technology for both theatre and film sound design, with full surround sound capabilities, an isolation sound recording booth and the opportunity to employ a full array of sound effects. The television studio will feature broadband fiber for live broadcast streaming.

San Marcos is situated between Austin and San Antonio, two cities with vibrant independent film communities where film graduates are in demand. With the advent of digital streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Hulu, the global demand for graduates with both creative and technical skills will continue to rise, and Texas State is uniquely situated to create a program that feeds both the curricular demands of students and the industry that will hire them.

Project architects are the Lawrence Group, with offices in Austin and New York, which specializes in higher education and media/broadcast studios.