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Construction has begun on UNLV's new Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center, located along Maryland Parkway on the campus' northeast corner.

The $7.3 million privately funded project is another product of the university's longtime partnership with the Beam family of Las Vegas, according to UNLV President Carol C. Harter.

"UNLV students are extremely fortunate that the Beam family has supported this very important project for the College of Fine Arts," said Harter. "Like Frank and Estella Beam Hall, tne Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex, and the Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery, this new facility will be a tribute to an outstanding Las Vegas family that really understands the importance of quality higher education. Our music faculty has worked closely with Holmes Sabatini Architects to design a facility that will begin a new era in fine arts education at UNLV."

The 35,000-square-foot structure is being built by Haydon Construction. The building will provide much needed classroom, performance, and office space for the music department.

"The Beam Music Center is sorely needed by the university, the college, and the department of music," said Jeff Koep, dean of the College of Fine Arts. "In the past 20 years, the number of music majors has doubled to nearly 300. We have also doubled the size of the faculty in the same period. New graduate degrees have been added in several music areas in answer to local and national demands. Such growth demands additional space; the Beam family's generosity assists us in dealing with the space problems and helps us move toward the future."

The building will also benefit the community at large, according to Koep. "One of Mr. Beam's dreams was a listening library where anyone could go to select and enjoy various types of music," Koep explained. "In addition to housing musical scores, the library listening center will include the collection of the Arnold Shaw Research Center for Popular Music. "

"Two other especially important parts of the new center will be a state-of the-art recording studio and a 300-seat recital hall that will provide an excellent setting for smaller ensembles and chamber music presentations," said Paul Kreider, chair of the department of music.

"The Beam family has given Southern Nevada a wonderful cultural gift," said Koep. "Their generosity will make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of students in the future."