Owens re-opens for classes after fire

By Jonathan McFadden

mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

Owens Hall re-opened for classes this semester after the building’s attic caught fire on March 6, 2010. 

The nine months of renovations to Owens and the Bancroft Annex cost $7 million, which was covered by Winthrop’s insurance. 

Owens, a $5 million general-use classroom building equipped with SMART technology, was constructed in 2007 and provided students and faculty with a lounge area, one computer lab and two conference rooms.

After the fire, 207 class sections held in Owens were displaced into other academic buildings on campus.

Owens will house about 250 class sections this semester, said Walter Hardin, associate vice president for facilities management.

Leitner Construction, the same company that constructed the DiGiorgio Campus Center and will be responsible for renovating Phelps Hall, handled the job of making Owens spic-and-span again.  

Normally, Winthrop has to obtain a construction company’s bid to undertake renovation projects through a process called South Carolina Business Opportunities.

This time, though, Owens got the lucky end of the draw.

Thanks to special permission from state legislatures to move ahead with the project in lieu of the bidding process and Winthrop maintaining the same contractor who built Owens, Hardin said the university was able to shave months off the renovation process.

Renovations for Owens and the Bancroft Annex offices cost $7 million. The building was covered by Winthrop’s insurance.

The same features that were in Owens before the fire are still the same, Hardin said.

Owens also contains the most up-to-date fire-prevention technology, Hardin said.