Belton, Texas – On Friday, February 5, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor celebrated the beginning of construction on its new performing arts center with a special groundbreaking ceremony. The event was attended by a crowd of over 400 students, special guests, and community members.
“In February 2011, the [UMHB Board of Trustees] approved an ambitious Campus Master Plan,” UMHB President Randy O’Rear said. “It is astonishing how God has blessed us since that decision was made just five short years ago.”
“We believed it would take a lot longer, but here we are today breaking ground for the final project,” O’Rear continued. “When it is completed, we will have invested over $135 million in the physical transformation of our campus.”
The 40,725-square-foot performing arts center will include multifunctional rooms that will allow it to be easily utilized for both learning and performance purposes. The center will also feature a 546-seat theater with a proscenium stage, fly space, and orchestra pit. The design also includes a 2,000-square-foot ensemble room, which can be used as a classroom, a venue for small concerts or recitals, or a reception space for social gatherings.
Ted Barnes, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, looked back on the work that went into planning for the new building.
“In our work to envision a new performing arts center, we were driven by a desire to create an interdisciplinary academic facility that would emphasize teaching, learning and performing,” Barnes said. “Today this vision is a dream come true, and what a blessing it will be for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.”
Jennifer Manning, chair of the UMHB Board of Trustees, offered a word of prayer before university officials, project architects, and community partners took up spades to turn the first ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt.
Just when the ceremony seemed to be at an end, junior Evan Michael Clawson, a Vocal Performance major, took the microphone and began singing the opening words of “Thank You Very Much,” from the Broadway musical Scrooge. This seemingly spontaneous performance quickly proved to be anything but when, one by one, dozens of other students, many in costume, picked up the tune and began making their way to the shovel line.
It was a surprise performance that brought the crowd to its feet, the first of many standing ovations coming soon to the front of the UMHB campus.
