Long before the Lower Level flood of March 16, plans were underway for the creation of a new space in the Ablah building to house the Holmes Anthropology Museum (currently located in Neff Hall).
On February 26, the first meeting with the architects was held. They are designing a new home for the Museum on the south side of the Ablah Building’s second floor. The area on the second floor will include a state-of-the-art gallery for displays as well as work space for the Museum’s staff and student workers. There will also be storage space for some of the Museum’s collections. Additional storage space for larger items is being created on the Library’s Lower Level.
A new entrance to the building on the south side of the Ablah building (currently an emergency exit) will lead directly to the new Anthropology Museum. Those needing ADA access to the Museum will continue to use the Library’s elevators.
Construction is scheduled to begin during the Fall 2025 Semester. To prepare this space on the 2nd floor, the collections currently located in that area (all in the Q classification range) will be temporarily relocated to the Compact Storage Facility (CSF) on the Lower Level once approval has been received to begin using the CFS again.
