Anthropology Collection Earns “Big Space on Campus”
For more than 30 years, the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Department and its Forensic Anthropology Center were located in rooms deep within the campus’s football stadium. As their collection of anthropological and archeological samples grew and grew, it became apparent that their designated space was inadequate. In addition to the shrinking about of square footage, the stadium’s lack of environmental controls put the integrity of the collection in danger. Something had to be done, and quickly.
HOW STORAGE MADE THE DIFFERENCE.
Moving into a new college space is always exciting – even for campus veterans! At the University of Tennessee’s Knoxville location, one of the school’s signature departments – and its collection of archeological and anthropological samples and artifacts – learned first-hand just how exciting and invigorating such a move can be. A new, bigger space allowed them to not only better fit their more than 10,000 boxes of collected items, but prepare for even more growth moving forward.
It just so happened that as the department’s need for additional space was becoming critical, construction began on Strong Hall, a brand new building on the university’s storied campus. After permission was granted to make the pristine building the new destination for the immense and varied collection of skeletons, pottery and other important items, the school partnered with Patterson Pope to ensure an amazing storage solution. Working in tandem with an architecture firm and Patterson Pope, university representatives first envisioned, then enabled an exciting transformation.
“Because I’ve served in the past as an acting curator for the department for about six years, I gained an appreciation for the importance of a stable environment. It’s not just the climate, either. It’s what a properly designed storage system allows. That’s what makes this new system so nice for all of us.”
Dr. Ben Auerbach, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee – Knoxville
