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Oct. 21, 2008 KNIGHT FOUNDATION TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE AT FSU The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will announce a major gift to Florida State University on Thursday to restore and expand the lobby area of Ruby Diamond Auditorium to better serve the local community and the university. Mike Pate, Program Director/Tallahassee for the Knight Foundation; Trabian Shorters, Vice President/Communities Program, for the Knight Foundation; FSU President T.K. Wetherell; College of Music Dean Don Gibson; and Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp are scheduled to speak. THURSDAY, OCT. 23 The new lobby and connected rooms will take up much of the first floor of Westcott, and will enhance the $33-million renovation of Ruby Diamond Auditorium into a beautiful, acoustically superior, premier performance hall. The lobby area is an integral part of the project, and will greatly improve access to the auditorium in a way that brings the campus and the city together, said Pate. “This will be a new and important gathering place for FSU and Tallahasseeans for all kinds of events, and that connection is so important to us,” he said. Gibson said the Knight Foundation has made it possible to greatly enhance the restoration. “The Ruby Diamond restoration is going to be a transformative project for FSU,” he said. “It will be a breathtaking new artistic and intellectual gateway to the university. The College of Music has never had a large performing venue with adequate acoustics. This renovation will provide such a space. The generosity of the Knight Foundation, which is interested in providing high quality cultural experiences to this region, will allow us to have a major restoration of the lobby so that everyone can enjoy the new auditorium.” ** Media are invited to see the progress of the restoration inside Ruby Diamond. # # # |