Due in large part to the generosity of Greenville businessman Jack Finney, Texas A&M; University-Commerce will soon have a new building in which to continue to make beautiful music.
Finney, 91, and a Commerce native, was feted Tuesday at a special luncheon in his honor at the Memorial Student Center on campus, where he was thanked for a recent $500,000 donation toward the construction of the facility.
Dr. Chris White, head of the university’s Department of Music, said the planned $23.5 million building will be located at the main entrance to the campus and be clearly visible from the highway.
“It will be iconic to the way people remember the university when they visit for the first time,” White said.
Preliminary sketches for how the building may someday appear were unveiled during the luncheon, showing where each room will be located inside.
“Right in the center of the building will be the Lou and Jack Finney Concert Hall,” White said.
University President Dr. Keith McFarland said the school had assumed it would need a total of $3 million in contributions to supplement funding which was provided by the Texas Legislature.
“Jack, your lead gift assures the success of our fund-raising,” McFarland said. “Thank you for stepping up and leading the way.”
McFarland shared some of the often-repeated stories of Finney’s accomplishments, from his dedicated affiliation with Texas A&M;, to his string of business and entrepreneurial successes and his 67-year marriage to the late Lou Finney.
“Jack Finney has done wonders,” McFarland said.
When it came time to take the stage, Finney credited his lifelong love of music to his mother, who attended East Texas Normal College led by university founder William L. Mayo.
“I can’t read a note,” Finney admitted, but said he hoped to be present when the building is opened.
“I appreciate this school and these people,” Finney said. “I love Commerce. I always have.”
McFarland presented Finney with a scrapbook of articles relating to his legacy at the university, as well as a copy of the official A&M; University seal.
“When I get old, I’ll sit down and look at them,” Finney quipped.
The donation represented only one of Finney’s contributions to area institutions. For his 90th birthday in August 2006, for example, Finney donated more than $1 million to the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Charitable Health Foundation.
Features
Related Photos
-
Brad Kellar
Businessman hits high note
A&M-Commerce expresses appreciation for music building donation
- Features
-
-
Thornton prepares to open up sports academy in Commerce
New businesses continue to spring up in Commerce and the most recent, Monster Sports Academy, intends to provide both entertainment and traning to Commerce youth. Lance Thornton, who co-owns and manages the Academy, has taught baseball in Commerce for the past six years and saw the need for an indoor facility for both select teams and individuals simply looking for something to do in Commerce.
-
College Corner Cafe provides a taste of Austin in small town Texas
Step into the College Corner Cafe, a recently-opened restaurant located at Lee and Mayo Street, and the first thing you’ll notice is the music memorabilia. There are hundreds of pieces guitars, pictures, album covers and more- framed and hung on almost every square inch of space in the restaurant.
-
Developer looks to turn former hotel into student housing
Change has been a constant in Commerce over the past year, and it looks like 2012 will begin the same way. A developer has purchased the old University Inn on Highway 25/50 and is transforming it into hospitility-based student housing facility with 60 rooms, a coffee house, restaurant, billiards room and more.
-
Dodd works wonders with steel and color
When Jerry Dodd was told he had to take a sculpture class in order to graduate during his undergraduate work at Central Michigan, he didn’t have the best reaction. Little did he know that the class would change the direction of his career.
-
Boys & Girls Club partners with GISD, Commerce community
Change is in the air for Greenville after school programs, and the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Texas is participating in that change by collaborating with other community organizations to help give their members a more rewarding experience.
-
Grazing Buffalo aims to please patrons with assortment of wings, barbecue, salad bar
Commerce residents have a new sit-down option for lunch and dinner thanks to The Grazing Buffalo, the most recent in a slew of small businesses that have opened their doors in Commerce during the past few months. The Grazing Buffalo, which is owned and operated by Laura Eichelberger, sits on Park Street where Blackjacks Barbecue used to be.
-
Cross country program off to strong start
Greenville Christian School is best known for its high school six-man football team, which has been one of the most successful in the state over the past decade.
-
Winning county pageant proves emotional for new titleholders
The tears overflowed from the two young women who were named the 2010 titleholders at the conclusion of the county scholarship pageant late Sunday night at the Ram Rayburn Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M University-Commerce campus.
-
Volleyball coach battling cancer and opposing teams
When you think of Commerce High School head volleyball coach Kelsey Hall, you think of someone young, healthy, having energy and the whole world ahead of him.
-
With a little luck, she made it to Commerce
Some may wonder how a Harvard Ph.D. who was reared in Michigan ended up in Commerce, but Dr. Kathryn Jacobs’ journey from the Midwest to the East Coast to East Texas is partly luck, according to this professor of English at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
- More Features Headlines
-
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
