On Sept. 15, the theatre students at Tech received a not-so pleasant surprise.

“Dr. Tarver came into the Techionery and whispered three words to Kate.  We had to grab all of our stuff and leave,” said Harry Dean, a sophomore theatre major from Conway.

Dr. H. Michael Tarver, the dean of the arts and humanities college, had told Kate Brugh, an assistant professor in the theatre program, that the Techionery did not pass its fire and safety inspection.

A total of eight fire hazards were documented in Fire Marshal Richard Setian's report. The hazards included insufficient amounts of exits for the person capacity, insufficient storage, and insufficient area for the welding equipment.

“Honestly, we probably broke more regulations than those,” said Tim Jarmon, the student technical director and a junior theatre major from Oark. “That's part of the risk of being a theatre major.”

The theatre program requires students to make their own props and costumes to graduate. For many of the classes, the Techionery is needed. The back of the Techionery was a gym in its prime.  The part of the Techionery the theatre students use is one, big, open room.  The costumes are stored in one part of the room, props are made in another, and the lighting equipment is accessible via staircase.

Without access to the Techionery and the equipment, the theatre majors had to find other accommodations to make their own props and stagecraft.

“We don’t really need to do any welding.  We need to make some small wood stuff.  We already have everything else taken care of.  "Candide" will go up, and it will be great.  Everything is mostly built already,” said Jarmon.

None of the theatre classes were halted as a result of the Techionery being closed, but it still provided much difficulty for students involved in theatre practicums who were involved in building sets. The acting classes were moved to Witherspoon.

According to Dr. Ardith Morris, a professor in the Speech, Theatre, and Journalism Department, the theatre program has used the Techionery for around 26 years.

She said that as far as repairs go, the Techionery has been rewired and workers repaired the floor, but those repairs are more than a decade old.

“In the past 15 years, there has been no significant improvement to the space,” said Morris.

Morris also said the theatre department had been asking for more space and for some of the fire hazard issues to be fixed for a long time.

In the search for a new space for some of the theatre classes, the Norman art building was considered.

According to Morris, one proposal was to use the 3-D design lab for some construction. Morris said that option was, at one time anyway, “on the table.”

Another solution was found, though. On Oct. 6, the theatre program received clearance to use the Arkansas Tech Career Center.

“The ATCC, near Russellville High School, is a facility the theatre students can use for the next two weeks to build the set for "Candide." They will then move the constructed set to Witherspoon,” said Anthony Caton, the interim head of the Speech, Theatre, and Journalism Department.

The theatre students started using the facility on Tuesday.

Arkansas Tech sent out a press release stating that the university had offered to build the theatre program a stage at one point, but Morris denied having ever seen the plans for it.  Morris has stated that she only had a brief discussion about a black box theatre with the department head of that time.

Although the theatre students now have a place to work, the use of the ATCC will be temporary.  The students will be able  to use it for two weeks.  The theatre supporters are worried about the makeshift adjustments.

Morris said she remains positive, however.

“I think we’re okay,” said Morris.

The theatre program hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down or shrinking. According to Morris, the theatre program has shown growth through the years. She said there were approximately 12 theatre students when Brugh started teaching at Arkansas Tech University. Now, there are 40-45 who consider themselves theatre student.

"Candide" will be performed from Oct. 28-30 and Nov. 3-5 in the Witherspoon auditorium.  It originated as a French satire by Voltaire.

The Techionery will be closed down for at least the rest of the fall semester.

“I have asked Mr. Caton to not schedule classes during the spring semester,” Tarver said.

At this moment, Tech does not know how much money or time will be required to fix all of the fire and safety problems in the Techionery, Tarver said.

He added, “The university has a master plan. They have gone through and determined what the highest priorities are.  The board, at the last meeting, approved for Arkansas Tech to develop plans for a new academic building that will be classrooms and offices. Right now that is the highest priority for the university. I don't really know where the new theatre building will fall into that. Right now, we'll need to use the resources that we have for the theatre program.  They can use the Witherspoon auditorium, and the Techionery will be under code regulations”