If University President Dave Frohnmayer approves a proposed schematic design, the School of Music and Dance will begin the final stages of preparation for a planned $17.2 million in construction and renovation.
After numerous adjustments and cost changes to the 2003 concept design, the school’s schematic design was approved by the Campus Planning Committee on Friday.
The project will add two new sections, totaling 29,000 square feet, to the school’s building and renovate older sections of the building.
The approved designs will now be reviewed by Frohnmayer and Vice President for Finance and Administration Francis Dyke.
“Getting the Campus Planning Committee’s approval today is a big step forward,” said School of Music Dean Brad Foley, who presented the plan to the committee. “It means we can keep working and moving the project forward with hope of getting construction under way by this time next year.”
As a result of inflation and the rising costs associated with construction, the original $15.2 million budget proposed in 2003 would not be adequate for finishing the project, Foley said. An additional $2 million is needed for the planned renovations to the sections of the building built in the 1920s and portions built in the 1950s. The school is currently raising funds for the renovations.
Plans include building two 40-seat classrooms, one 90-seat classroom, a 3,000-square-foot concert hall, six practice rooms, a recording studio and studios for jazz and percussion.
“The quality of this institution really deserves, at some point in the future, a large concert hall,” Foley said.
In the current plan, the school’s courtyard will also be closed off by new additions and landscaped as a student social area with tables and a fountain. An access road from East 18th Avenue will be constructed along the rear of the building for loading equipment and a new freight elevator will help transport heavy materials between floors.