Couple Donates $10M Toward New Purdue Bands Building

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A new building for Purdue University's bands and orchestras program will be named after a Florida couple who donated $10 million toward the project.

Purdue President Mitch Daniels announced the donation from Marc and Sharon Hagle on Saturday.

Marc Hagle is president of the Florida-based real estate company Tricor International. He graduated from Purdue in 1971 with a bachelor's degree and in 1972 with a master's.

As a student, he performed in the symphonic band and in the marching band drum line, including at the 1967 Rose Bowl.

“The department has outgrown its space two times over, and when we were presented with the proposal to help, we bought into it instantly,” Marc Hagle said. “Everybody who participates in Bands & Orchestras has an opportunity that will affect them for the rest of their lives, as it did mine."

The building will be named Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall. Purdue officials said the program has been housed in Elliott Hall since 1940. More than 1,100 students now participate in it.

Construction of the $20 million project is expected to begin in September and finish by the end of 2021. The university plans to raise the remaining $10 million that's needed from other private donors.