Traditions Plaza is scheduled to open on Friday, just in time for MU’s 103rd Homecoming.

A dedication ceremony to publicly celebrate the opening of the plaza will be held at 3 p.m.

“The dedication ceremony will be a good opportunity to invite folks back who purchased bricks,” said Todd McCubbin, executive director of Mizzou Alumni Association. “About 1,300 engraved bricks have been purchased, and they will continue to be available for purchase until they sell out. We have around seven or eight thousand bricks left to be installed every homecoming in October and graduation in May.”

McCubbin said the agenda for the dedication ceremony will be appropriately traditional, including a few speakers and a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the plaza.

A 100-year time capsule will also be buried center stage, said David Roloff, MAA associate director of marketing and strategic communications. It will contain mementos from MU’s 175th anniversary and campus life in 2014.

“Traditions Plaza will serve as a symbol of MU’s pride of place and passion the Mizzou family has for Missouri’s flagship university,” he said.

In order to decide what objects would be buried in the time capsule and which traditions deserve tribute in stone, the MAA conducted an online survey.

Over 4,300 votes, along with a committee consisting of alumni and representatives of student organizations, determined which traditions shall be etched into the bricks surrounding the plaza’s main stage, according to the MAA’s website.

However, the objects to be buried in the time capsule have yet to be decided.

“Ultimately, the question to consider is what is most likely to be well preserved after 100 years, so you can tell what it is,” McCubbin said.

“Bronze plaques and special etchings around the plaza will be added during (Homecoming) week,” Roloff said. “We expect the arrival and installation of the donor pavers also.”

Between July 1 and August 15 (the deadline to purchase the first set of engraved bricks), MAA generated over $422,000 in sales, making the project MAA’s fastest-ever fundraiser, Roloff said.

Three hundred and eighty-eight bricks were purchased by current students or alumni who graduated in the past year.

Legacy Circle, a spot set aside at the top of Traditions Plaza, will feature engraved donor bricks purchased by legacy families and arranged together.

Construction for the Traditions Amphitheater began the first week of July, Roloff said.

However, there were minor issues in construction caused by poor soil quality. These issues were dealt with by excavation and refilling with better soil, a process that will continue until the dedication ceremony, Roloff said.

“It has been an aggressive schedule to complete, but everything is coming together to finish on time,” he said.

The addition of engraved bricks in future years will not expand the size of the plaza but rather replace the blank bricks already installed.

Traditions Plaza will have the largest permanent outdoor programming stage available in central campus.

Kathy Murray, associate director for the Department of Student Life, said although the department is excited to have another programming space available for the campus, there have been no events scheduled for the amphitheater space yet.

Traditions Plaza may be able to serve as a substitute for space during the coincidental, temporary closing of Jesse Auditorium.

No actual work is being done on the auditorium. It is simply closed because the rest of Jesse Hall is closed for the installation of updated air conditioning units and fire sprinkler systems, MU spokesman Nathan Hurst said.

Jesse Auditorium should be re-opened for events by summer or fall 2015.