In winter 1983 UT’s Environmental Health and Safety unit began a systematic friable asbestos evaluation of UT buildings, concentrating first on those built between 1940 and the mid-1970s, when the use of asbestos was a very common, fire-retarding construction practice. Preliminary tests in four dormitories (Massey, Reese, Dunford, and Morrill) turned up no friable asbestos in the living areas, but pipe insulation containing asbestos in machine rooms was identified and removed. In June a visual inspection of Clarence Brown Theatre identified insulation covering the steel support beams that should be tested. Bulk samples of the material were taken, and the results showed 44 percent chrysotile asbestos. On July 9, nine additional samples were taken from the beams, from a pipe joint, four from dust around the theatre, and one air sample. The air samples registered .02 fibers per cubic centimeter.
On July 27, 1983, UT closed the theatre—except for the theatre offices and the lab theatre, which operate on a separate ventilation system. Law Engineering was employed to conduct asbestos testing in the Clarence Brown Theatre and elsewhere on campus. One fall play was moved to the Bijou Theatre, and the remaining fall and spring plays were held in the Carousel Theatre. Asbestos was removed from the theatre during June to August 1984 by Lang Engineering, supervised by Law Engineering and Testing. Lang received $131,000 for the work, and Law received $35,000 for the supervision.
Law Engineering also found asbestos in Stokely Athletics Center, and the friable portion was removed at a cost of $200,000. Funds for removal projects were taken from the building maintenance portion of student activities fees. Subsequent testing done in winter 1984 found 22 additional buildings containing asbestos, with 99 percent of the asbestos located in pipe coverings. Four fraternity houses (Sigma Nu, Alpha Tau Omega, Kappa Alpha, and Phi Gamma Delta) were also found to have asbestos—the ceilings had been sprayed with a material containing 15 percent to 25 percent asbestos. At its July meeting, the board of trustees appropriated $75,000 for the removal of the asbestos from the fraternity houses, with the money to be repaid by the house corporations of the fraternities over a seven-year period.