The Lamar University campus is located on Martin Luther King Boulevard, near U.S. Highway 69, in the southeast part of Beaumont, Texas. Facilities include the 10,000 seat Montagne Center arena, and the eight story Mary and John Gray Library.

In the late 1990s, Lamar began undertaking campus improvement projects. Most buildings on the campus dated to the late 1960s and 70s and had deteriorated since. Many older buildings in the northern part of the campus were gutted and refinished one-by-one.

In 2001, the University began replacing its 1960s-vintage dormitories with new apartment-style housing facilities, dubbed "Cardinal Village", operated by the private firm American Campus Communities. Older campus housing facilities have been demolished as Cardinal Village expanded to meet demand. Demand for on-campus housing has risen, coinciding with the opening of the new dorms. As of March 2005, a new dining hall was under construction near the housing complex and is scheduled to open in December 2005 [1] .

In March 2005, the McDonald Gym was closed. The gym is to undergo rennovations and more than double in size as it is remade into a new recreational sports center [2] .