Work on PFW’s new music industry hub found its groove at ‘record’ speed

Construction of the Surack-Sweetwater Music Industry Building on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne has progressed to the point where you can almost hear the music in the air. Soon the sounds of jackhammers and drills will be replaced with pianos, trumpets, guitars, flutes, and many other more melodious instruments of the creative process.

With less than a year to go until the $25 million, 26,000-square foot facility is completed, workers from Weigand Construction are now laboring more on the inside than the outside of the two-story structure. The dry summer allowed them to maintain a steady pace, and students were able to notice an immediate difference from what they saw when the majority left in May after spring semester finals.

"I bring up the new building with every single prospective student I talk to," said John Buteyn, director of PFW's commercial music, music industry, music technology programs. "I discuss how big the facility will be, the equipment that will be available to students, and various partnerships with industry leading companies who are sponsoring various rooms. I explain that we'll have more convenient collaborative opportunities with the other School of Music degree programs moving forward, and collaborative opportunities across campus. So, it's a big talking point."

The foundation is set for three recording studios, with floating floors for better acoustics. They are about five inches lower than the surrounding floors, isolated to reduce vibrations and enhance acoustics. When completed, there will also be 10 practice rooms, 10 soundproof editing suites, four individual audio rooms, 11 offices, five faculty studios, three recording studios, two conference rooms, a student lounge, and four classrooms.

Some of the final walls can't go up until the specialty equipment arrives and is placed. The main recording and mixing console, which is approximately 8.5-feet long by 3-feet wide, is an example of the technology to come. After consulting with a top recording industry consultant, the $550,000 console was ordered in December, is being hand-built in England, and is scheduled to arrive in February. Because it is the heart of the first floor, an entire wall is being left out until it can be placed.

About $2 million was budgeted for all the new equipment.

"We anticipated that we were going to have to do some accommodation because of the size," said Greg Justice, PFW's associate vice chancellor for Facilities Management. "This building will be at least equivalent or better than probably 90% of the industry right now. We want it to last a while."

Justice said soon there will be a flyby, computer-generated video which will provide a digital presentation of the completed building.

"It has definitely added administrative work for the last couple years as we have been in the planning, design, and construction phases," Buteyn said. "But I'm passionate about bringing one of the best equipped facilities in music technology to our PFW campus, and providing the best education possible for our students. It's worth the extra work."