In the fall of 2003, President David P. Roselle announced that the University would receive one of the largest gifts in its history toward the construction of the proposed Center for the Arts.

"The highly successful Campaign for Delaware, which at last count raised $387 million, has been extended one year to raise money for the Center," Roselle said.

The $42 million Center for the Arts, to be constructed off Orchard Road in what is now the Amy E. du Pont Music Building parking lot, will provide new performance spaces for music and theatre plus a large practice venue for UD's Marching Band and many smaller practice rooms for music students. The 92,000-gross-square-foot performing arts facility also will encompass a 200-seat recital hall, a 300-seat orchestral hall and a proscenium theatre that would accommodate 450 persons. Architect of the Center for the Arts, which is expected to open in 2006, is Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore.

"The reason we need this kind of facility is because we have been successful." Roselle says. "The students now coming to UD are academically gifted, and such students are more likely to study music." For example, half of all students in the University Honors Program have a strong interest in music. Some 340 students major in music, and another 1,400 students also take music courses.

"Our current practice facilities are very inadequate for the number of students who are music majors or are majoring in other subjects but are also taking instruction in music," Roselle said.

The new Center's orchestral rehearsal hall will give the Marching Band its first indoor venue for practice during inclement weather.

For theatre, the new rehearsal and performance spaces will be particularly valuable since Professional Theatre Training Program productions are frequently presented in repertory. For those studying the technical, production side of theatre, the new spaces will be superior.

A new parking deck, to be accessible off Elkton Road and Amstel Avenue, will be built in the grassy area where the Marching Band formerly practiced. It will accommodate 750 vehicles and will more than replace the parking removed by the construction. Construction of the parking deck will begin this spring.