University celebrates construction of $9.8 million band and dance facility

As part of the University of South Carolina’s first Spring Reunion Weekend, the department of theatre and dance and the School of Music held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site of the new $9.8 million band and dance facility Friday (May 16).

Construction on the building, which will be located behind the Blatt P.E. Center at 324 Sumter St., actually began in August 2007 and is expected to be completed in February 2009. Designed by Garvin Design Group, the 32,000-square-foot facility will include three dance studios, dressing rooms, classrooms, a band rehearsal room and storage for instruments. The site also will include a 110-yard practice field for the marching band.

University President Andrew Sorensen said the new building is the culmination of one of many dreams that he had when he came to the university as president in 2002.

“When I first came to the university, I had many dreams,” said Sorensen. “When I attended dance events, I was appalled by the inadequacies of the dance program’s space in the Blatt P.E. Center, and the dream of creating a new facility for the dance and band programs developed.”

Tayloe Harding, dean of the School of Music, said the new facility will be unequalled by any other dance or band facility in the country.

“To do what we do on Saturdays in the fall requires a facility like this,” said Harding. “When our previous facility fell to make room for Innovista, President Sorensen dedicated himself to replacing it with the best facility possible.”

The band department was previously housed in a small building on Sumter Street, which was demolished as part of the construction of the Innovista research campus.

The ceremony also included performances by the Faculty Brass Quintet and a group of dance students who performed a dance choreographed by second-year student McCree O’Kelley.

The performance was dedicated to Katherine Matthews, CEO and owner of Columbia-based Modern Exterminating and a longtime supporter of Midlands arts. Matthews donated $300,000 to the project, making the creation of a third dance studio possible. The studio will be named the Katherine E. and George G. Matthews Dance Studio.

“The USC Dance Program’s stars lined up when President Sorensen took the helm,” said Susan Anderson, artistic director of the USC Dance Company. “It paved the way for the program to achieve the greatness that we know it will achieve in the coming years. Our dance major is busting at the seams. It began in the fall of 2005, and we expected to have 25 majors at this point. Instead, we have 70.”

For more information about the USC Dance Program, visit http://www.cas.sc.edu/dance/. For more information about the USC Band Program, visit http://bands.music.sc.edu/index.html.