Cornell's marching and pep bands are steps closer to a home to call their own. The university announced plans to build a band facility adjacent to Schoellkopf Crescent during Homecoming 2011. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in 2012.
The largest student organization in the Ivy League and its only true marching band, Cornell Big Red Bands has stirred Big Red fervor for decades and generated fun and lifelong friendships among band members. On September 17 the Big Red Bands Alumni Association celebrated and unveiled plans for a 6,400-square-foot building that will provide ample space for practice, instrument storage, uniform storage, office space, a music library, and instrument repair shop.
Band alumni David '75, M.S. '78, Ph.D. '80 and Sarah Thole Fischell '78, M.Eng. '79 gave the lead gift toward its ongoing fundraising campaign. Their daughter Erin '10 is also a band member alumna; Jennifer '13 is a current member.
Cornell selected the architecture firm of Baird Sampson Neuert Architects of Toronto, which designed the award-winning Cornell Plantations' Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center.