Art Barn’s top floors not meeting fire code
USU Facilities officials are closing the upper two floors of the Art Barn, the building at the northeast corner of the Taggart Student Center parking lot, because of concerns about fire code.
“It’s an old building and it has lots of issues,” said Darrell Hart, associate vice president of Facilities.
The top floors of the three-story building do not meet current fire code requirements because the way the rooms are laid out would make evacuating during a fire difficult, Hart said. The building also has other problems, such as not having an elevator, he said.
The first floor, which houses an undergraduate psychology lab and graduate student and faculty offices, will still be in use. Officials do not yet know what will happen to the top two floors, Hart said. They may be renovated someday, but no plans are yet in place.
“It’s just one of many projects we’re working on,” Hart said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
The building was built in 1896 and used to house livestock. As USU grew and became a university, it relocated its agricultural programs, and the barn was deserted for many years. In 1959, it was renovated to house the ceramics program and other art departments, which is why it is called the Art Barn.
Hart said the building was up to safety code regulations when it was built and renovated, but is no longer in compliance because the regulations are updated frequently.
-d.felix@aggiemail.usu.edu