A message from Administrative Vice President Brian K. Evans:
BYU recently received a permit from Provo City to demolish Allen Hall, a university building at the corner of 100 East and 700 North. Allen Hall was built as a student dormitory in 1938 and served missionaries of the Church Language Training Mission from 1962 until 1980, when it became the home of the Museum of Peoples and Cultures. In 2014, the museum moved to its current location at 2201 North Canyon Road, next to Outdoors Unlimited. Since that time, Allen Hall has been used for overflow space during periods when university personnel have been displaced due to campus construction.
For a number of years the university has studied and deliberated regarding the best use of this property. The building is now 80 years old, has failing systems and is not suitable for renovation or any permanent university purpose. Abatement of hazardous materials is currently underway and demolition should be completed by mid-August. Long-term plans for the lot have not been determined but for now the university will cover the cleared land with grass.
The university is also preparing plans for the future of Amanda Knight Hall. Amanda Knight Hall was completed in 1939 as a women’s dormitory and served missionaries of the Church Language Training Mission from 1964 to 1976. Since then the building has served a variety of short-term purposes, including overflow space for academic and support units such as Independent Study, the English Language Center and the MTC.
Amanda Knight Hall is also failing and presents functional challenges and safety risks. The university is looking to preserve the architectural features of the building by constructing a replica of the original on the current building site, while making the space usable for ongoing academic and academic-support purposes.
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