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As dozens of volunteers continue to labor on the University of Louisville marching band’s new practice field, the question remains: why did it come to this?

For years, the marching band has petitioned the university for better facilities, only to be shown constant neglect.

According to Dr. Gregory Byrne, U of L’s marching band director, the marching band has practiced on five different fields over the last 11 years, never finding a comfortable home. The current field is uneven and has dismal lighting and a poor drainage system, making wheelchair navigation, let alone practice, very difficult.

But the recent “extreme makeover” to the field merely highlights the numerous facilities in need of repair at U of L: residence halls are outdated; many of the primary academic buildings haven’t been renovated in decades. Progression is evident with the sizeable expansion of Ekstrom Library, the perpetual renovation of Grawemeyer Hall and some of the new renovations being made at Shelby and the Health Sciences campuses, but it’s not enough.

Meanwhile, the athletics department continues to shame the rest of the university with plans for a Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium expansion, successful petitioning for a new basketball arena and the new $14 million Yum! Center. The band’s new practice field will be in the shadow of the Yum! Center, much like the rest of the academic facilities at U of L – in the shadow of the athletic department.

What will be done with the old marching band practice field? A sizeable swatch of land next to a green parking lot, the most logical use of this space would be to pave it and add additional green lot parking. This would help alleviate some of U of L’s notorious parking woes.

A new residence hall may also be built on this land, which would help free up some space from the other residence halls and give the university more time to remodel.

The marching band, Patrick Hughes and the rest of the student body are grateful for the tireless efforts that the volunteers have made to improve the conditions for the marching band; It was long overdue. One thing is for certain: U of L will look terrible when it is revealed to a nation that a group of volunteers, with donated supplies, were left to do a job that the university should have done years ago.