06/15/2009

Dairy Barn Becomes a Cooperative Effort

by Amanda Schumaker, Auburn Journalism Student

The old dairy barn on the Auburn University campus is getting a facelift and possibly a new life as a retail outlet and gateway to Heritage Park.

The College of Agriculture and the Auburn Agricultural Alumni Association, along with Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction and Robin Fellers, an associate professor from Auburn’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, have been collaborating to make the project possible, making this a truly Auburn community effort.

Auburn’s dairy barn has been an iconic and architecturally historic part of Auburn’s culture since the early 1900s and once even delivered jars of milk to Auburn residents. The dairy officially closed in 1985, but the barn continued to be used as a teaching facility and also was used by tailgaters in the early 2000s.

While the barn had been on the books for renovation, no work had begun until Fellers saw the potential in the historical building and helped jump-start a collaboration that is making the renovation happen.

“The idea originally started when I was working with the Alabama Rural Heritage Center in Thomaston, Ala. I helped them make recipes for jams, jellies and pickles that could be locally grown. The idea was great, but there were not a lot of customers,” Fellers says.

“A professor in agronomy and soils, Dr. Charles Mitchell, grew up in Thomaston and has always been interested in the jelly project. We brainstormed one day, and he told me about the old dairy barn in Ag Heritage Park. We thought that would be a great place for opening a retail center that would feature the types of products that Alabama Rural Heritage Center sold in its gift shop, along with the jellies and pickles made in Thomaston. One thing led to another, and here we are today,” Fellers says.

“Robin Fellers was the main person who came up with the idea to move forward with the Design-Build group in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, which makes this project more affordable by having the work done in-house,” says Robert Hensarling, director of Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Agricultural Land and Resource Management unit which manages Ag Heritage Park.

The Design-Build group is a master’s program for the College of Architecture, Design and Construction.

The goal for the dairy barn renovation is to make the facility into an entry to Ag Heritage Park, which hosts an annual summer farmers’ market—The Market at Ag Heritage Park—and is a gateway to many other agricultural events at Auburn University. This project is to also further establish the park’s presence on the Auburn University campus, and to provide a venue for agriculture at Auburn University and throughout the state of Alabama.

The left wing of the barn will be transformed into a meeting space and will house a multimedia area to illustrate the past, present and future of agriculture; meeting space for classes, interviews and industry meetings; and meeting space for the Agricultural Alumni Association.

The other wing can someday be used as retail space for Showcase Rural Alabama, a store featuring Alabama products. Those products may include foods, art, crafts, furniture, soaps and many more items. The store will complement The Market at Ag Heritage Park.

“The project currently lacks full funding, so the end date is fluid. It may take one to two years depending on the flow of funds for the project,” Hensarling says. He adds that help from the Design-Build students was extremely valuable and, though the class that began work on the project has now graduated and it is unsure whether another class will continue the effort, Hensarling hopes further collaboration will occur.

Cost of the project is an estimated $1.5 million, which is much lower due to the in-house work by the Design-Build group. In addition to the Design- Build program, College of Agriculture Dean Richard Guthrie has committed funds that were raised at the 2008 Ag Classic toward the project, an estimated $25,000. Most of the funds from the 2009 Ag Classic will also go toward the dairy barn project.

The Ag Alumni board of directors has asked that every board member make a gift to the dairy barn project, and the College of Agriculture is asking alumni or friends to contribute as well. Pledge forms are available from Mark Wilton, development director for the College of Agriculture. Contact him at 334-844-1198 or wiltom@auburn.edu.

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Contact: Katie Jackson, 334-844-5887 or smithcl@auburn.edu

OFFICE OF AG COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 COMER HALL, AUBURN UNIVERSITY
AUBURN, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)
AgComm@auburn.edu