In June of 1966, two men began shoveling manure in order to bring Missouri Southern students a theatre experience they could enjoy.

Milton Brietzke, director of theatre, and Duane Hunt, assistant professor of theatre, were the men behind the reconstruction of the principal barn on the Mission Hills Estate.

On top of shoveling manure, Milton and Hunt also removed the concrete floor, installed furnaces, built classrooms, restrooms, dressing rooms, a ticket office, a stage and seating for 144 people. The finished product was known as “The Barn Theatre.”

“The Barn Theatre was an excellent, intimate little theatre,” said theatre instructor G.E. Johnston, who was a student director in the 1984 show “Helena’s Husband.”

“It had a great atmosphere and good energy. I wish I could have used it as an instructor.” On Nov. 22, 1990, campus security officer Dallas Fortner noticed smoke coming from the building as he was leaving Young Gymnasium. As he got closer, a blaze was spotted on the upper level of The Barn.

The blaze was under control in 30 minutes and out within an hour, but The Barn was gone for good. The fire started in the west end of the second floor.

Joplin fire officials found signs of forced entry and classified the fire as arson.

“I was terribly sad to hear that The Barn was gone. It was especially sad to know that someone started the fire and the University never found who did it,” Johnston said. “The Barn is a piece of history that is gone and that we will never get back.”

The University felt the loss of The Barn, but did not feel as if they had lost a theatre. The Barn had been shut down on Feb. 13, 1990 due to a Joplin fire official’s uncovering of 14 fire hazards. By this time, the theatre department had opened Taylor Auditorium and plays were already underway.

The Bud Walton Theatre, or the Black Box Theatre, was built in 1999 to replace that same intimate feeling delivered by The Barn. The Black Box Theatre is used for smaller plays to make the audience feel closer to the actors. The intimacy of the theatre and the flexibility of the space is probably the best part of the theatre. The most recent play held in the Black Box Theatre was “Home Front.”

“The Black Box is an excellent facility. It is very nice and has everything we need. It just doesn’t have the history or the atmosphere yet,” Johnston said. “I still believe the Black Box should have been named after the two men (Brietzke and Hunt) who dug the manure and did the basic construction work on The Barn.”