For a couple of decades, industrial arts students were working with metal, and there was pottery. Music students practiced in large rooms that would later be turned into soundproof practice rooms. 

 

Then in 2013, the third floor was renovated. The university approved the computer game design degree and spent $2.20 million on needed labs and space. The traditional art studios that were on the third floor had to relocate to the basement. New studios were then built on the lower level, including a spray booth venting system and a ceramics kiln. The following year brought another $1,000,000 and added graphic design rooms, computer labs, and a printing room. In the building that was meant for working with your hands on art, there are now screens everywhere.

 

There was a problem, though, as the lower level had a serious air quality problem. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2021 faculty assessment found that only 4 of the 12 rooms in the lower level passed for air quality standards. There are cracks running through the walls and floors, and ceiling tiles are warped and stained by water damage. Patches of black tar seeped in from the courtyard above after the heavy rain. Teachers had to bring in portable HEPA air purifiers to run in some of the classrooms. There was talk about needing $30,000,000 in maintenance to fix these issues.

 

Some of these renovations began in the summer of 2025, as windows on the building were replaced. In the summer 2026, the film and video wing of the third floor will undergo a major update to serve the needs of students that major. 

 

If Florence Conlon were here, she would not have recognized the third floor: two computer labs, a gaming room, European beechwood doors, and glass walls that opened the classrooms.