Members of Mississippi State University’s Famous Maroon Band will soon be rehearsingon more solid ground with the groundbreaking of a new artificial turf practice field.
Ground was broken Monday in a ceremony with several MSU dignitaries present. Construction is scheduled for the summer, with plans for completion by the 2018 fall semester. The project is funded by a gift from retired ExxonMobil Vice President and MSU alumnus Jim Rouse and his wife, Julia. Other donations came from Maroon Band alumni, parents, friends and even students.
“Certainly to replace our grass field with a synthetic turf substance will enable us to have improved practice conditions, especially around weather situations,” said Famous Maroon Band Director Elva Kaye Lance. “After periods of inclement weather, we can rehearse a little bit more readily on the field.”
Lance said the band practice field took more abuse than most athletic practice fields, with hundreds of people making repetitive movements over the same area.
“For a number of years, we’ve had to refurbish our grass field at the end of the year, and last year, we had to do significant work on the field in order to be able to use it,” Lance said. As you know, if you go out on a muddy practice field, then eventually it just becomes mud and you lose your grass surface.”
The band has been planning for a synthetic turf field for many years, but the need became more urgent following rainstorms in late summer 2017 forcing the band to rehearse at Starkville High School and in MSU athletic facilities.
“We were just forced to look at it this year, because our field conditions were so terrible,” Lance said. “In the first part of the season through mid-October, we were actually displaced from our field.”
The turf field will be in the same location as the band’s current grass field, next door to the MSU Band Hall. Several other SEC university bands practice on turf fields. Lance also said the University of Southern Mississippi’s band rehearses on turf.
“The reputation of the Famous Maroon Band will continue at a very high caliber with the addition of this synthetic practice field,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. “Our band features students studying in every MSU college, and we want them to be able to maximize their practice time and best showcase their talents while performing on behalf of our university.”
Lance thanked all those who donated toward the new field.
“We’re very excited about the future of the Maroon Band,” Lance said. “Retention of veteran members was great going forward to this next year, and we’re very excited about our new class that’s coming in. We had an awful lot of interest in the band program, and I think that reflects interest that prospective students have in Mississippi State University.”