University officials are discussing the need for a Marching Illini practice field as the band has not had one since its creation in 1907.

“Everyone said we would like to get a space,” said Barry Houser, director of athletic bands and the Harding Symphonic Band. “This thing is about 30 to 50 years too late.”

The Marching Illini perform seven or eight halftime shows at home games during the football season.

According to Big Ten marching band websites, almost every other Big Ten university has either a practice field solely for their marching band or access to the school’s home football field on a regular basis.

Indiana University is the only exception, and its band, the Marching Hundred, has raised over half the funds needed for a new $4.5 million facility.

Without their own field, the Marching Illini are forced to switch practice sites during rehearsal weeks. Rehearsals begin Tuesdays at Memorial Stadium but on Wednesdays move to the open space behind the Business Instructional Facility, on Thursdays to Huff Hall, and on Fridays back to the open space, unless Huff Hall is available.

“Every three to five years, we’d stay on one spot and then move on,” Houser said.

These makeshift practice sites undergo normal wear and tear of the grass, he said. The band used the South Quad as its main practice location last year, but they can’t use the space this year because the University is reseeding and maintaining the grass.

Houser said he thinks a new facility should have artificial turf to make it the most cost-effective. His hope is the turf can endure all 350 band members treading on it.

However, Annie Fowlkes, piccolo player and sophomore in LAS, disagreed.

“The field doesn’t have to be turfed,” Fowlkes said. “It can be just a grassy field.”

She said she thinks all the band needs is a field with properly marked yard lines, which prevents collisions between members and helps them stay in formation.

Lucas Sykes, trombonist and sophomore in LAS, said he recognizes the need for a standard football field for the band to call home.

“Consistency is huge when you have so much to do in so little time,” he said. “We shouldn’t need to worry about this when we have too much else to worry about. We realize the University has done a lot to help us, but it would make it physically easier.”

Houser conveyed that the only factor holding back a proper practice facility for the Marching Illini now is space. The University is considering where a facility the size of a football field could be placed on campus.

Houser also said a meeting with University officials will be held in the next couple of weeks with the goal of forming a more concrete, long-term plan.

“Our tradition outlives all of theirs (other Big Ten schools),” Sykes said. “This is where marching band started.”

Chris can be reached at [email protected].