Archaeology Lab 2 moves into Tuve Hall

The lower level of Tuve Hall is about to get a new occupant: Augustana’s Archaeology Lab 2.

The move is part of a roughly $1 million project that will provide the anthropology department with a newer, more spacious facility.

Once the anthropology department moves out, Archaeology Lab 2 will be demolished, clearing the way for an expansion of the humanities parking lot.

Rick Tupper, associate vice president of campus safety and logistics, said the expansion will add around 100 new parking spaces.

For students living in Tuve Hall, the project has meant living above an active construction zone.

Sophomore resident Preston Spaans said that construction in the basement has been particularly intense for those living on the lower levels.

“One day, one of the trucks sat there and started honking for several minutes at 7 a.m.,” Spaans said. “We understand the need for more parking space. We understand that Augustana is working with a limited amount of land. But to put it in a space where students are living and where students want to sleep and study, a lot of noise is very disruptive of that.”

For the anthropology department, the move will provide more space for classes and allow them to accommodate more students.

“The basement of Tuve sounds so much worse than it is,” said KC Carlson, associate professor and chair of the anthropology department. “It sounds like they’re shoving us in the basement of a dorm.”

The lower level of Tuve Hall is partially underground but opens directly to the street, Carlson said, making it suitable for the department’s needs. One of the new classrooms will have room for about 45 students, compared with about 18 in the department’s current space.

Before the renovation, the Tuve Hall basement served as a day room and kitchen for residents and housed an apartment for the hall director. More recently, the space hosted the student-run Augie Thrift store before sitting vacant last year.

The relocation will be one of the most significant changes to the archaeology labs since Augustana added a second lab 20 years ago.

Archaeology Laboratory 1, a converted single-style home that was moved to campus in 1983, houses faculty offices, equipment storage and workspaces. Lab 2 occupies a building that was originally moved to campus in 1984 to serve as the Eide-Dalrymple Art Gallery. It was turned into a lab in 2006 when the gallery moved to the Center for Visual Arts.

Both laboratories conduct Great Plains research and Cultural Resource Management, employing student interns to survey land for cultural artifacts ahead of construction projects.

An anthropology lab is not the first instance of utilizing residence hall space for non-residential affairs. Last year, the meeting space connected to the kitchen in Wagoner Hall began hosting classes. At the same time, Sacred Discoveries, Augustana’s faith storytelling initiative, also moved into the first floor of Tuve Hall. 

Demolition of the Tuve Hall basement began over the summer, Carlson said renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year. She said the department is hoping to move into the new space in early winter, though a temporary location may be needed if renovations take longer than expected.