Jaws dropped, eyes bugged out, some made statements in awe of the enormity of the structure, others had no words at all. After a few minutes passed to acclimate themselves to their massive new surroundings, members of the Mighty Maroon Marching Band on Thursday night became the first to use the 94,000 square foot Multi-Purpose Activity Center, or MAC, on the campus of Brownwood High School.

“Oh my goodness, I look across the way and people look like ants when it feels like they’re right in front of me,” said Deja Martin, a senior member of the color guard. “It’s super nice. I like the big posters of the people. They have everyone included in everything.”

The band and color guard held a practice and preview performance for parents following Meet the Teacher night Thursday at Brownwood High School, as the school district received the official OK to make use of the structure, which was part of a $59.5 million bond passed by Brownwood voters in a May 2023 election.

New Brownwood High School Director of Bands Jason Jones said, “The MAC is such a great facility. As a person coming in toward the end of the project, I’m extremely thankful to the voters of Brownwood for approving the bond to allow our district to have a facility like this. It was quite the honor to perform in there this evening and I know this facility will be put to great use by many organizations across our district.”

Kyle Recolizado, one of the senior drum majors, said, “This place is really nice, it’s what we’ve needed for a while. Practicing on dots really doesn’t help and since we don’t get to go to Gordon Wood Stadium that much to practice, this will help a lot, especially for the first game. The band needs to know how to transition from the parking lot to the actual football field.”

It took a few warm up songs for the band to get to accustomed to the echo that comes with playing indoors, but Jones reminded the students that the state competition takes place at the Alamodome in San Antonio – and playing in the new environment will only benefit the band in the long run.

Being able to practice somewhere besides a parking lot will be helpful to the color guard routine this year as well, Martin pointed out.

“It’s good to be able to march on turf instead of concrete,” Martin said. “In our show this year the color guard is dancing and we’re actually on the ground and on our knees. That’s not comfortable at all, so having this opportunity will be great for us to practice everything fully.”

As for being the first organization within Brownwood ISD to use the MAC, senior drum major Allie Fulton said with a laugh, “This is awesome, we really never get to be first at anything. But it’s amazing and we finally get to get out of the sun when we’re practicing.”

Martin added, “Sometimes we feel a little left out. Being the first to be in here, it feels very respectful. I’m super grateful this was built even though it’s my last year. I like it a lot.”

Karissa Raines, the sophomore drum major, said of the opportunity to use the MAC for multiple years in her high school career, “I’m just so glad the whole band gets to use it and I get to grow with them as they get to experience it. It’s amazing and beautiful.”

The Brownwood Lions football program is next on the MAC schedule, as the first practice inside the facility will take place at 2 p.m. Friday.