The College of Liberal Arts is collecting funds for a new facility that will provide necessary practice and storage space for the band.
The current practice facility in Goodwin Hall is too small to hold the growing band and is far from both the outdoor practice field and the football field.
"We don't really have an indoor space the marching band can go to because we were moved to the far west of campus by the Village dorms, so when it starts raining we just have to cancel rehearsal," said Corey Spurlin, associate director of bands. "Our real need right now is to have a facility near our practice field, which is where we spend most of our time."
Spurlin said a pavilion has been provided near the practice field, but it isn't large enough to practice under, and it's unsafe to stay there during inclement weather.
"Sometimes we have a complete week where the weather is terrible, and we're expected to perform on Saturday," Spurlin said. "We need a place to rehearse to meet the expectations of our fans and our University."
The building will serve an important function on game days as well, Spurlin said.
"On game days the marching band has nowhere to go after practice to change clothes and get ready for the games," he said. "Each year we've been looking for a place to go, and different parts of campus try to help us out. The new building will have lockers and things so the marching band members will have a way to get ready for the game."
Vivian Langley, development officer for the College of Liberal Arts, said fundraising for the project is going well.
"We're $2.6 million toward our $5.5 million goal, so we're about halfway there," Langley said. "We've only been doing this for several months now and we have several lead gifts like the $1.5 million gift from athletics. They're starting to add up, and we still have many people to talk to about the project."
Cassie Arner, assistant athletic director for public relations, said the money for their donation came from ticket sales, donations and football television licensing.
"The band gives quite a bit of their time and effort and atmosphere to athletic events, and it's something we felt we needed to do to support a group that has supported us for so long," Arner said.
Another donation of $1 million was given by Auburn alumna Meredith Birchfield.
"She has just always loved the band," Langley said. "She can't imagine a football game without the full-on band being there and even at basketball games, where the pep band really helps with the spirit."
Spurlin said he hopes construction will begin by spring.
"We're raising money, and we're getting closer." Spurlin said. "The architectural design is completely intact, so once the finances are in place, we're ready to break ground. It's really an immediate need. It's just not safe for us to be out on the field with nowhere to go when bad weather pops up."
Langley said this project has been in the works for three years, and she is looking forward to seeing the final result.
"It should be finished in 2014 at the latest and, with a little luck, maybe even sooner than that," Langley said. "We're being extremely optimistic, and we're trying to move the fundraising forward as quickly as possible with hope that people will see it as a worthy project."
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