Work begins on the Virginia Tech Marching Virginians’ new facility

Construction of the Marching Virginians’ new $4.75 million practice and storage facility is underway and scheduled to be completed in 2015.

Crews recently began work with bulldozers and other equipment preparing the site located behind the southeast corner of the Chicken Hill Parking lot, near Lane Stadium.

The first phase of the project is a new lighted artificial turf practice field, which is scheduled to be completed in spring 2015. A new storage building and an open air pavilion are scheduled to be finished by the start of the fall semester.

Along with space for storage and for the band’s drumline to practice, the approximately 4,300-square-foot building will have restrooms and small personal lockers for band members. The 7,500-square-foot pavilion will allow the band to practice during inclement weather.

Currently, the band practices on the infield of the Johnson-Miller Track Complex.

Funding for the project is a partnership, with a significant portion coming from the Department of Athletics. Recreational Sports is contributing as well, and construction is also being funded by donations raised by the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

The Marching Virginians are administered through that college’s School of Performing Arts.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 225 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $496 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.