At 5:30 P.M. CST tours, open to the public, will begin. Charlie Myatt, Chairman of the Miller Trust Planning Committee and Dr. Syndney A. McPhee, MTSU President, will be in the list of speakers who will remark on the facility and greet special guests.

At 7:30, Conductor, Lawrence Harrvin, of the Murfreesboro Philharmonic Orchestra, will lead a presentation “Symphony of Horses” which will showcase 10 national and world champion breeds of horses. This event will be free and open to the public. “We are anticipating a great night and a large turnout of people for the grand opening,” stated Joe Bales, vice president, development and university relations. “ Many people have worked hard to make this happen, and I believe the Millers would be pleased to see how their gift to the university has been utilized.”

The events and exhibitors planned for the evening will include: World’s Champion Fine Harness Horse- Medusa with driver Sarah Womack; World’s Champion standardbred Road Horse- Ashland and driver Mike Barlow; Tennessee Walking Horse- Cash In My Stock and rider Brett Boyd; Champion Arabian Dressage Horse- Lasado and Darlene Bottorf; National Champion Paso Fino- Pro Digio and Randy Wiel; World’s Champion Reining Horse- Nu Chex To Cash presented by Hilldale Farms; Champion Grand Prix Jumper- Step Right Up and David Wright; World’s Champion Racking Horse- Unreal and Kenny Ailahie; and Roman Riding Team- Silverado and Silver King with George Meek at the reins.

The late John C. “Tennessee” Miller and his late wife Mary Elizabeth Miller, made the donation to allow for the magnificent facility that now stands on Thompson Lane next to the Foundation House. The coliseum can be accessed by Broad Street and U.S. Hwy. 231 on the north side of Mufreesboro.

The generous gift specifically given to build a horse coliseum and an adjacent horse science center had grown recently to more than $25 million dollars. The two facilities have to date cost $21 million dollars to build. The Tennessee Miller Coliseum encompasses 222,000 square feet which includes a 150 by 300 foot coliseum floor, a large covered warm-up arena, 492 10 foot by 10 foot horse stalls, as many as 70 camper hook-ups, 400 paved parking spaces, two well-equipped concession stands, state-of-the-art sound system, and much more. The coliseum has the ability to hold 4,600 people and for larger events bleachers can hold spectators to bring the seating capacity up to 6,500.