COOKEVILLE — Members of Tennessee Tech’s Golden Eagle Marching Band won’t have very far to march in order to practice their on-the-field routines.
Tech will be breaking ground for phase one of a $150,000 activity field project across North Dixie from the Bryan Fine Arts Building. The band practice tower will be relocated on the 6.6 acres green space in front of Walton House.
“The School of Music is excited about the relocation of the marching band tower and looks forward to a much closer practice field,” said Colin Hill, Tech’s interim director for the School of Music. “The President’s lawn is directly across the street from the Bryan Fine Arts building, which is significantly closer than the seven-minute walk to Sherlock Park. Especially when inclement weather hits, getting students and instruments indoors quickly will be much easier in this new location. Further, this location eliminates some occasional noise issues between marching band rehearsals and soccer games.”
The move to the new green space is mitigated by a new Engineering Building and Innovation Residence Hall that will cut into the size of Sherlock Park where the band currently practices.
“We really want to get the band tower relocated here before school starts up in August,” said Chuck Roberts, vice president for facilities and business services during a recent interview on a local radio station. “So, we should have that band tower relocated out there in the June-July time frame. They’ll be able to utilize that when they have camps starting to open up at the beginning of the school year.”
Roberts said the field is not specific to the band, students will be able to use the space for outdoor recreation. He said it will function similar to Sherlock Park. There will be some lighting, water stations and benches included in the area.
Roberts also said an architect is working to design Tech’s vision for the field moving forward and that phase one can be completed with funds already allocated.
