Samford will name its new recital hall for the wife of a longtime trustee and Birmingham financial leader who co-founded Central Bank, now Compass Bank.
The new building, scheduled to open this fall, will be Jane Hollock Brock Hall. It is named for the wife of retired banker Harry B. Brock, Jr., who has been a leading member of the Samford board for more than four decades.
The Samford Board of Trustees named the building in recognition of the Brock family's long years of support of the University, according to Samford President Emeritus Thomas E. Corts. The Brocks have generously supported Samford over the years with their philanthropy and have used their influence to gain support for the school from others, he noted.
"Samford has no finer friends than Harry and Jane Brock," said Dr. Corts. "In a busy career, Harry has chaired major committees, chaired the Board of Trustees, chaired a major successful campaign, and been one of our major donors. Jane kept making it possible for Harry to be Harry--not an easy job! This building is a trophy for this campus, and a fabulous tribute from a devoted husband to his wife."
The Brocks' son, Harry Brock III, is also a member of the Samford board. Mrs. Brock's late great-uncle, Peyton A. Eubank of Birmingham, was an 1897 graduate of Samford (then Howard College) and a longtime Samford trustee. He was the school's Alumnus of the Year in 1947.
The Jane Hollock Brock Hall will house a 300-seat recital hall, a rehearsal suite for Samford orchestral and band programs and an instrumental teaching center. The centerpiece of the $8 million building will be the recital hall with its state-of-the-art acoustics.
The new facility will house teaching, practice and rehearsal facilities for Samford's Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Orchestra, chamber ensembles, Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble.
Dr. Corts, closing his 23-year tenure as Samford president, recalled the longtime support of Brock on the Samford board.
"It was Harry Brock who first showed me around Birmingham and extolled its charms until I was persuaded to consider moving here," he said. "Without saying Yes' to every suggestion, he has been a major force on the Board and an ever affirming friend. He and Jane Brock are a grand couple, whose devotion to one another is as exemplary as it is rare. Everyone is pleased that their presence will hover over Samford for decades to come."
Located adjacent to Wright Center and Buchanan Hall, Jane Hollock Brock Hall will provide a grand new home for Samford orchestral and band programs.
"Instrumental faculty and students have long labored under adverse conditions, but no longer will this be the case," said Samford School of Performing Arts Dean Milburn Price, who helped define the needs of the new building and worked with architects in planning stages. "The new building, Jane Hollock Brock Hall, will provide a wonderful new home for our music programs."