WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees approved financing and plans for an addition to the Music Center at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
The project will see the construction of an approximately 26,000 gross square foot addition to the existing Music Center and is expected to cost around $22 million.
The trustees explained that $7 million of the budget will come from gift funds while the additional $15 million will come from the university’s capital.
The addition will provide new music rehearsal rooms, recording studios, student editing suites, advanced music technology, a critical listening laboratory, a small classroom and related support spaces.
Construction is expected to start in Sept. 2024 and be completed by March 2026.
This project marks Purdue University’s first major investment into the music center since acquiring it in 2018 after Indiana University and Purdue University decided to break up its almost 50-year relationship and dismantle Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne.
When the pair decided to divide the university into two, all departments involved with health care would be established at Indiana University Fort Wayne, and all other departments would fall under the leadership of Purdue University Fort Wayne.
The Music Center originally opened in the fall of 2007, seeing an initial enrollment of 30 students. Since then the department has grown with an average enrollment rate of 150 students, according to speakers at the trustees’ meeting Dec. 8.
Purdue University Fort Wayne’s School of Music is expecting the new addition will allow the department to raise its enrollment rates closer to 300 students.
As of now, students who enroll at Purdue University Fort Wayne’s School of Music have showcased a high interest in the department, includijng degrees in the music industry bachelor of science and the music industry master of business dual degree program.
