After more than 50 years of standing vacant, the historic Dairy Barn on the campus of Texas Tech received new life and once again became a functional part of the university thanks to a $3.5 million restoration project completed in 2020.

One of the oldest buildings on campus – built in 1926 – the Dairy Barn now serves as a vital and functioning academic facility, complete with office and meeting spaces that make it a key collaborative and conference space for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

That investment in making the Dairy Barn a functional space has been recognized by the Lubbock chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which awarded the Condray Design Group, the architects on the project, with its 2021 Design Award.

The award recognizes and promotes outstanding design excellence in the local and surrounding areas, with entries demonstrating the positivity between the user and the facility, the facility and the community and the effectiveness in accomplishing the goals of the client and users.

Built just three years after the university was established, the Dairy Barn allowed for the payment of tuition through milk sales from cattle that were either brought by students or donated to the college. Students were encouraged to bring up to three cows of their own to campus and house them in the barn.

The Student Dairy Association was formed that year, and by the early 1930s, Texas Tech's Dairy Manufacturing Department was self-supporting, furnishing milk and ice cream to the campus cafeteria and the Lubbock community.

Even though that method of tuition payment was discontinued in 1935, the Dairy Barn continued to serve the educational needs of students interested in agriculture until it was abandoned in 1966, sitting vacant for more than a half century.

In 1992, a student fundraising effort resulted in the Dairy Barn and its remaining silo being recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2016, the Lubbock County Historical Commission and the Texas Tech Student Government Association unveiled a new Texas State Historical Marker.

The latest renovations represent the first work done on the Dairy Barn in any form since 2012, when it was given a fresh coat of paint and the roof was replaced. Two years later, the green space around the West Library Mall and the Dairy Barn were part of a campus beautification project that included new grass, landscaping, an irrigation system, lighting and walkways.

With the latest renovation, however, the Dairy Barn is now a functional space where students, faculty and staff can come together in a collaborative effort to further the educational efforts of the university.

CONTACT: Tracee Murph, Coordinator of Alumni Relations, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2802 or tracee.murph@ttu.edu

1123NM21 / Editor's Note: For a much more detailed view of the CASNR Dairy Barn Renovation Project and current meeting room availability, please click here. For information on the dedication of the CASNR Dairy Barn Renovation Project, please click here