Nearly two years after a tornado tore through Murphy High School’s band facility, Mobile school officials, city leaders and state lawmakers gathered on campus to break ground on a permanent replacement building for the school’s celebrated marching band program.
The new single-story facility, budgeted at roughly $1.6 million as part of a larger $2 million project, will span about 8,100 square feet and include two rehearsal halls, a music library, two instructional offices, a classroom, restrooms and custom storage built specifically for band equipment. Mobile County school system facilities manager Tommy Sheffield said construction is expected to take about 10 months, putting completion on track for the start of the 2015-16 school year.
Murphy Principal William Smith addressed the crowd at the Thursday morning ceremony, telling attendees he was especially excited on behalf of the school’s band students, who have spent nearly two years rehearsing out of portable classrooms. The original band room was severely damaged in an EF-1 tornado that struck the Mobile area on Dec. 25, 2012, displacing the ensemble known as the Mighty Marching Panthers from its longtime home.
State Rep. Napoleon Bracy of Prichard and State Rep. Randy Davis of Daphne attended the groundbreaking, along with a former Murphy band director, Mobile City Council member Levon Manzie, members of the Mobile County school board and schools Superintendent Martha Peek. Their presence underscored the level of local and state interest in restoring one of the city’s most visible high school music programs.
The design work was handled by McKee & Associates, with Youngblood-Barrett Construction serving as the general contractor on the project. School officials said the new building was designed not just to replace what was lost but to give the band program dedicated space that better serves its day-to-day rehearsal and storage needs going forward.
The Christmas Day tornado
The tornado struck Murphy’s campus on Dec. 25, 2012, causing significant damage across the school. Students and faculty finished that school year at the former Shaw High School campus in west Mobile, and the renovated campus reopened to students on Aug. 19, 2013, while work on the band room and other facilities continued.
