Construction on a new band and choral complex should begin by June.
The complex will cost about $3.5 million and 12 months of construction to build and will house rehearsal space and the supporting offices for the music department, officials say.
“This has been a priority for a number of years,” vice president for finance and administration Ray Hayes said. “If you’ve been in our current band hall, you know we need a new facility.”
Located on Hardy Street near the intersection with Blackjack Road, the new facility will have a 16,000-square-foot bay to house offices, a brick and stucco finish, a sloped shingle roof and soundproofing, executive director of facilities Jim Jones said.
“The old facility has simply outgrown its use many years ago,” Jones said. “The new facility will be a vast improvement.”
Director of the Maroon Band program Elva Lance wholeheartedly agrees. She remembers her band director hoping for a new facility more than 34 years ago.
“The move into the (current) building in 1952 was to be a temporary location for the band program,” Lance explained. “The program at that time was 100 members. The marching band did not travel; there were no pep bands, only one concert band and no jazz band. The music department did not exist then.”
Now, the Maroon Band program consists of more than 275 students with three concert bands, a jazz band, numerous small ensembles throughout the music department and two basketball pep bands, Lance said. MSU also hosts over 1,000 students each year for various clinics, camps, workshops and other recruiting opportunities.
The old facility is simply inadequate and does not meet the needs of the many students involved in the choral and band programs, Lance said.
“There is no instrument storage, we cannot meet indoors with the marching band and the library has to serve as an office space, just to highlight a few of the problems,” Lance said. “First of all, we must have adequate space to rehearse. Secondly, and most importantly, we must have the building acoustically treated so that all three rehearsal halls can be used simultaneously.”
Perhaps one of the most important reasons for building a new facility is recruitment.
“Prospective university students have come to expect a facility that is at least on par with many of the high school facilities around our region,” Lance said. “In order to attract the brightest and best to Mississippi State University, we need to have facilities that reflect positively on our program.”
The new facility will do just that, said Hayes, Jones and Lance. The hall will allow indoor rehearsals for the entire band, alternate spaces for groups to work independently, warm-up rooms for auditioners, a small conference room to meet with prospective students and families and much needed instrument storage space.
After construction is completed, the new complex, funded by a combination of donations and profit from the sale of university-owned land, fundraising for phase two of the plan will commence.
“In Phase Two, we want to build space for all the music faculty, rehearsal rooms, practice rooms and a small recital hall,” Hayes said.
All agree that this project is a top priority of the university, as the current space does not meet the needs of the departments it serves.
“It is old, needs major repair, is in an area that is not best suited for band practice and is bound by other facilities that do not allow its expansion in the current location,” Jones said. “This facility is long overdue.”