Penn State Liberal Arts Building Reopens Following Damage From ‘Structural Issue’

A Penn State building has reopened after being closed for seven months because of what the university termed a “localized structural issue.”

The Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building, 137 Fischer Road, received a final re-occupancy permit from Department of Labor and Industry in June, university spokesperson Wyatt DuBois wrote in an email to StateCollege.com on Friday. Faculty and staff began moving back into the building to resume normal operations on July 1.

The building was evacuated on Nov. 12 after what a 911 dispatch described as a “sound of an explosion.” Then-Alpha Fire Company Chief Tony Berrena told StateCollege.com partner publication Onward State that crews observed a crack in the wall of the building from the second floor to the roof and that the floor had settled about 2 inches.

Penn State has not disclosed the nature of the structural issue, and DuBois did not respond to questions on Friday about the specifics or the cost of the repairs.

Multiple third-party structural engineering firms worked with the university on repairs and remediation.

“The repairs were performed by a contractor with specialized expertise in this type of corrective work, and the repair process was closely monitored by members of the engineering team, an independent third-party inspection firm, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry,” DuBois wrote.

Faculty, staff and building operations were relocated to temporary space for the end of the fall 2025 semester and entirety of the spring 2026 semester.

The $128 million, six-story Susan Welch Liiberal Arts Building opened in January 2025 after more than two years of construction. It is home to the departments of anthropology, political science and sociology and criminology, the School of Public Policy, Criminal Justice Research Center, Matson Museum of Anthropology, McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Social Science Research Institute.