Lanier Drive is now home to a brand new warehouse, which officially been designated as a part of the South Campus Expansion. The warehouse will be home to various departments, offices, as well as a storage expansion for the museum’s Project SENSE (Science Education Network for the South East), an outreach program designed for local teaching professionals who cater to children in Pre-K through eighth grade.

Some of the museum’s interesting features will include a new-to-them cotton gin from the 1850s and a turpentine wagon from the 1920s according to Brent Tharp, Ph.D., museum director.

The Georgia Southern Museum has been part of campus since 1980 when it was founded by Charles Austin, the vice president for academic affairs at the time.

The museum has since been the home of many archaeological finds and donated artifacts and will provide sufficient space for the university’s archaeology program.

“Archaeology is important because it shows us what the past was. It also helps illustrate societies that weren’t necessarily recorded in writing,” Lindsey Ivy, junior anthropology major, said.

The new warehouse will also provide space for the aspects of archaeology that come after the actual digging up of artifacts.

“It’s digging up cool things and more often, boring, mundane objects, but it is also the interpretation of the objects and the context in which they are found that have the most meaning,” Morgan Henderson, junior anthropology major, said.

The expansion of the museum and archaeological research space will be beneficial towards GS’s awareness of history.

“I think that having more access to the archaeology archives and resources would make my experience and education in the intricacies of archaeological digs and sites more in depth. I can come out of graduation with the best knowledge of archaeology,” Henderson said.

University’s Property Control, Archives and Record Center, Purchasing Department, Communication Arts Department’s costume shop and Central Receiving will also be housed in the new warehouse.