Utah Museum Association Members Tour the Future USU Museum of Anthropology

The Utah Museum Association (UMA), a group representing over 250 museums in Utah, held their annual conference this year in Logan. At least 129 people attended the conference from October 10-12, 2011. As part of the proceedings, the USU Museum of Anthropology invited conference participants to tour the current museum and the historic Art Barn, or Aggie Barn, that will soon be the home of the new museum.

The tour, titled “The Past & Future of the USU Museum of Anthropology...and Aggie Ice Cream to Boot!” began with USU’s current Old Main-based museum. It included an overview by museum director Bonnie Pitblado, who briefly covered the museum's history and philosophy, followed by a discussion of exhibits and programming led by Adrienne Day. The tour participants then took a short walk over to the old Art Barn, where they got a sneak peek at the future home of the USU Museum of Anthropology, led by Holly Andrews.

As part of the barn tour, barn researchers Jon Alfred and Jason Neil presented some of their research to attendees. Jon Alfred’s presentation was “From Horse Dung to Pottery Shards: Barn Usage at Utah State University,” a discussion of the changing roles of barns on USU campus. Jason Neil’s presentation was “Memories From the Barn: Learning From the Past Through Oral History.” It featured information about three oral histories that have been done about the barn, including audio excerpts. It discussed how a building can represent different things to different people and the value of preserving memories from the public to understand the historic importance of places. Participants were interested in how the information gathered by the research team will be preserved and presented, such as through displays in the new museum and on the Barn Yarn public radio broadcasts.

At the end of the tour, Holly Andrews displayed and discussed the architectural plans for the rehabilitation of the barn into the new museum and welcome center. Participants then enjoyed their Aggie Ice Cream. Several attendees said the tour and the work of the barn research team has given them new ideas that they will take back to their own communities and museums.

Assuming Its Place

Barn research team member Jason Neil has been continuing his research in USU Special Collections and Archives and has uncovered more documents related to the "turf wars" over the space in the Art Barn after it was vacated by the Art Department. In addition to the requests discussed in earlier posts, he also found proposals to turn the Art Barn into a photojournalism lab, a hobby center, or a restaurant and recreation center with a barn theme. From 1977 until 2007, discussions continued about the best ways to use the space in the Art Barn, with frequent changes and remodels made as campus needs changed.

In 2007, the faculty using the third floor of the barn wanted to remodel the south end for offices and a conference room. In the process of considering this remodel, it was found that the building failed to meet several codes, including the ADA and fire codes, and that if they did "anything to the building other than install carpet and apply new paint, the entire building [would] have to be upgraded to comply with current code."

It was suggested that the Art Barn may have "substantially outlived its usefulness," especially since it was never intended "for human occupation," but the project coordinator also recognized, "On the other hand, due to the fact that this building is probably the last remaining vestige of Utah State University's agricultural heritage on main campus, it could be successfully renovated (similar to the Janet Quinney Lawson and Lillywhite buildings) and assume it's [sic] place as a prominent historic building along 700 North. . . . Renovation of the structure could produce a marvelous space and preserve a piece of history for the University."

Click on the image of the USU Archives document below to read more about this pivotal decision in the barn's history.

1952 Music Hall

This scan of a drawing from 1952, when the barns and animals were being removed from campus, shows a proposed renovation of the horse barn into a music hall (a change that never took place). It is interesting not only because it shows an early concept for an adaptive reuse of the barn, but also because it gives us an idea of how the barn looked in 1952. The scan is reproduced here courtesy of USU Special Collections and Archives. Click on the image to see a larger version.

1912 Precedent for Utah State University Welcome Center and Museum

The transformation of the Art Barn into the USU Welcome Center and Museum of Anthropology is a creative idea and an excellent reuse for a historic building, but we were surprised to find that campus plans from 1912 in the USU archives show that a similar idea was considered at least once before in USU's history.

The campus plans, pictured below, were drawn up while the old horse barn, or Model Barn, was still standing just to the northeast of Old Main. These plans called for the old horse barn to be replaced by new agricultural buildings, including a building called "Museum of Agriculture, etc." These campus plans were never fully realized, and the museum wasn't built, but if it had been, it would have been a focal point on the north side of the quad.

Back in those days, 400 North was a main approach to the campus, which was centered on the quad. The main entrance to the quad from 400 North would have brought students and visitors right up to the agriculture museum, and it's easy to imagine the "etc." in the museum's name meant it was going to serving as a welcome center as well because of its dominant location and size.

Though the agricultural museum wasn't built, the agricultural history of USU and Cache Valley will still be memorialized on campus through the rehabilitation of the Art Barn into the USU Welcome Center and Museum of Anthropology. During the rehabilitation project the facade of the building will be restored to the extent possible to resemble the barn its its first function as a horse barn. This will allow an important historic building on campus to find a new purpose while still serving as a reminder of USU's past. Of course, it's also fitting that the new Department of Agriculture building is being built across from Old Main on the quad, bringing agriculture full circle on campus.

The images below are renderings of the 1912 campus plans. The top sketch of the plans shows an aerial view of the quad from the south, with Old Main Hill on the left side of the picture, and 400 North and Logan's "Island" at the bottom. The agriculture museum is the large building on the north side of the quad with numerous sidewalks converging on it. The bottom image shows the landscape plans with Old Main Hill on the bottom of the image and the complex of proposed agricultural buildings on the left side.

Historic Barns and Historic Preservation

In the early days of USU, when it was Utah Agricultural College, barns were an important part of the landscape on campus, in Cache Valley, and throughout northern Utah. Though the Art Barn is the only remaining barn on USU’s campus, barns are still an important feature of Cache Valley’s historic landscape. These historic Cache Valley barns provide a link to the history of USU’s barns.

The original USU horse barn, which was built next to Old Main in 1893, was a large, square, stone building. Though that barn was removed to make room for more classrooms in 1919, a good example of this type of barn is the Logan Temple Barn, which was likely patterned after USU’s horse barn. The Logan Temple Barn, located less than a block east of the Logan LDS Temple, was built in 1897 to accommodate the horses of temple visitors. Like the original USU horse barn, automobiles made the Logan Temple Barn obsolete by 1919, but Thomas Budge purchased it as a garage for his hospital, which was once located across the street from the barn. Today the Logan Temple Barn is privately owned. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Historic American Buildings Survey.

When the original USU horse barn was torn down in 1919, a new horse barn (our Art Barn) was built near the vet science building. This barn was cutting-edge for its time, representing the spirit of agricultural innovation at Utah State and in Cache Valley. Its gambrel roof and Jackson Fork allowed hay to be stored conveniently in the loft, and its cement floor was easy to clean. Other historic Cache Valley barns incorporated some of these features too, though it is uncertain if any were directly influenced by the Art Barn.

Like many other historic structures in Cache Valley, the Art Barn’s functions changed over time. In the 1950s the animals and barns were moved off the main campus, except for the horse barn, which remained because of its solid foundation and became the Art Barn. In the 1970s, when the art department moved into its new building, the barn served as overflow office space and classrooms for several departments. Its conversion to a welcome center and museum comes at a time when USU has just opened a new Equine Education Center in Wellsville, a tribute to the continuing importance of horses at USU, and is constructing a new building for the College of Agriculture directly across the quad from Old Main and from where the original horse barn once stood.

This history of adaptive reuse, or rehabilitation, of the Art Barn is a good example of how historic buildings can be preserved and put to new uses. Reuse of historic buildings reduces the environmental impacts that are associated with new construction while preserving the history and heritage that are so important to any place’s identity. The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Barn Again program provides information about preserving historic barns, and the Bear River Heritage Area’s “Historic Barns of Northern Utah,” is a good source for more information about historic Cache Valley barns. Both are available online.

Above: Photo of the Logan Temple Barn courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS, reproduction number HABS UTAH,3-LOG,2A- Below: USU archives photo from 1906 of the old horse barn, or Model Barn, near Old Main, with the other campus barns, and the future location of the Art Barn, in the background.