Ball State President Blaine A. Brownell and benefactor Mary Jane Sursa, wife of the late David Sursa whose name will grace MIB's performance hall, will speak during a brief ceremony in front of Emens Auditorium. Brownell, Sursa and other dignitaries will also sign the final beam before it is hoisted into place.

MIB Facts and Factoids

• Academic space square feet: 73,000

• 600-seat performance hall, named after David and Mary Jane Sursa, is actually a separate building within the building. A two-inch gap separates the performance hall's walls from the rest of the building to ensure pristine acoustics.

• The hall can be tuned for each concert's specifications using adjustable panels that can absorb or deflect sound.

• Performance faculty studios and practice studios' floors are separated and raised on neoprene pads or "hockey pucks" that also create a room within a room.

• Each studio has its own ductwork with sound dampening features to eliminate noise from the heating and cooling units and sounds from nearby rooms.

• The Music Engineering Technology (MET) control room has a Lucite diffuser that allows audiences to view recording sessions without compromising sound quality.

• Through the use of digital sound equipment a single control room can make recordings from the performance hall, the instrumental rehearsal and the choral rehearsal rooms without having to tote equipment from venue to venue.

• The Music Instruction Building's address will be 1809 W. Riverside. The year 1809 saw the birth of Felix Mendelssohn and the death of Joseph Haydn.