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5 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,M ay 26,2022 w aterloochronicle.ca MOC.MSIRUOTSLLAFARAGAIN TATHGINREVO RUOYKOOB ⓇARAGAIN EROLPXE# MP01TAYLTHGIN SKROWERIF SLLAFARAGAIN NOW OPEN Coolman noted. The existing parking lot between the current building and University Avenue will be removed to create a new entrance plaza with walkways, seating, lighting, landscape features and a digital sign. The city is providing close to $600,000 as part of its University Avenue Gateway Strategy to enhance the amphitheatre and create a more welcoming and pedestrian- friendly space. Mayor Dave Jaworsky said it's an ideal opportunity to liven things up. Though University Avenue is a region- al road, the city says it maintains a keen interest in the transformation of what it calls the "front door" of the university. The project expected to be completed in 2024 will likely cost upwards of $20 mil- lion, Coolman said. It's being paid for with the help of a $15-million capital campaign called Making Space for Music. About $12 million has already been raised, including a $4-million contribution from the Savvas Chamberlain Family Foundation, pledged back in 2020. The university will recognize the foun- dation's visionary gift by naming the reno- vated faculty of music building the Savvas Chamberlain Music Building, a project that has been in the making for more than 11 years. Laurier's late former dean of the Facul- ty of Music, Glen Carruthers, who died in 2020, is credited as the driving force be- hind the vision. "This new and renovated space will be a 21st-century home for our exceptional music students, faculty and staff in which to learn, play and engage with our broader community," said WLU's president and vice-chancellor, Deborah MacLatchy, during the groundbreaking ceremony earlier this spring. Much of the initial work will involve renovations to the existing building that will help accommodate students during expansion. According to its website, WLU's music faculty offers two undergraduate pro- grams including a bachelor of music and Ontario's only bachelor of music therapy. Enrolment is currently limited to 400 undergraduate students -- a number that's said to be small enough to give stu- dents ready access to instructors, yet large enough to have a full symphony or- chestra, three choirs, a wind orchestra, opera program and baroque, wind, jazz, percussion, contemporary and other mu- sic ensembles. Students, faculty and outside artists present upwards of 100 concerts and events a year to the public. Coolman noted that the university has outstanding traditional music programs but also cutting-edge graduate programs such as a master of arts in community mu- sic. "This will hopefully be a showcase to invite people to learn more about what the future of music is like," he said. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: A groundbreaking ceremony for major up- grades to Wilfrid Laurier University's music faculty was held earlier this spring and the Chronicle wanted to learn more. NEWS Continued from page 4 Left: A drawing of what the new glassed-in atrium will look like. Right: A rendering from the inside WLU photos