Groundbreaking!
Construction Concerto rings in MacPhail’s new era
Links to media coverage
Fall Capital Campaign Update (pdf)
View the MacPhail construction site webcam
New Building Q & A
On Wednesday morning, September 13, 2006 at 10 a.m., nearly 400 people gathered in the bright sun to celebrate a bold, new beginning for one of the nation’s oldest and most-respected music education centers. The enthusiastic throng of MacPhail supporters, all with big smiles and carrying colorful plastic “construction shovel clackers,” enjoyed coffee, rolls, and the cool tones of MacPhail’s Faculty Jazz Combo as they explored the construction site at the corner of South Second Street and Fifth Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis’ growing cultural corridor. Many mugs were raised in celebration at the site where excavation for the new, state-of-the-art, 55,000-square-foot MacPhail Center for Music is scheduled to begin this fall.
“Just standing in that historic Mill District, imagining how our flagship building’s design will pick up on that sense of history with its metallic and corten steel exterior—it truly feels that this is the right place to celebrate MacPhail’s 100 year history and launch our journey on the hundred years to come,” notes MacPhail president David O’Fallon.
“But this occasion also prompts us to look forward to the incredible network of learning that will continue to grow and grow throughout our state, bound together by the new facility on this site. This new MacPhail Center for Music, with its world-class performance spaces, will truly be the center of an expanding web of learning and performing opportunities. W e now have a network of 50 community partnerships and two core access sites, and that’s just the beginning of what we do to bring the connecting, healing, inspiring power of music to everybody.”
Following an introduction by MacPhail Board Chair Teresa Bonner, MacPhail percussion instructor and composer Bob Adney with an ensemble of performers in hardhats led the gathering of community leaders, donors, students, instructors, staff, and friends in Adney’s spirited Construction Concerto, an original piece featuring every instrument taught at MacPhail, assorted construction equipment, and enthusiastic participation from the audience with their colorful shovel instruments.
Long applause greeted state Representative Dan Dorman from Albert Lea, who, along with Senator Larry Pogemiller, Senator Dick Cohen and others led the efforts at the Capitol to secure $5 million in state bonding for MacPhail’s new building. Governor Tim Pawlenty appeared via video offering his best wishes and congratulations. Minneapolis City Councilman Cam Gordon accepted thanks for the vital support the City gives to the new MacPhail. While Mayor Rybak and key council members Lisa Goodman and Scott Benson were on international travel, they were thanked for their support.
Following hearty applause for architect Jim Dayton, the crowd prepared to watch the first shovelful of dirt dug with ceremonial golden shovels as Capital Campaign Co-chairs Judson “Kim” Bemis, Margee Bracken, and Sonja Noteboom concluded the Groundbreaking Celebration.
“We’re pleased to announce that we have now raised just over $23 million toward our $25 million goal,” Kim Bemis began. Margee Bracken followed, inviting the enthusiastic gathering to continue its support:
“Today we launch the community campaign. The new MacPhail will serve the entire community, and we want to invite the entire community to participate in its creation,” she said. “Every gift, at every level, will help bring music to this site for years and years to come.”
