During my time at Winthrop University, I’ve been around most of all the buildings on campus and garnered an appreciation toward both old and new buildings. Though the outsides have interesting designs, I’ve heard students talking about possible ways for certain buildings to be funded for repairs. However, it is questionable whether funding should be focused on new buildings instead of repairing the current ones.
Since January of this year, The Rock Hill Planning Commission announced the planned construction of a new residence hall called the Nest on Stewart Avenue and White Street. The construction is planned to start in June of this year and finish in time for fall 2020, but this construction comes from skewed priorities. While not officially headed by Winthrop University, this building would be housing new students in the Rock Hill Area. But with reports of what could have been a gas leak in the Rutledge building and complaints of the Courtyard residency falling apart, it begs the question of what takes priority in Winthrop’s construction funds. Winthrop University chief financial officer Justin Oates noted how the Winthrop controllers dealt with rumors of the gas leak.
“There has been a report of a smell that resembles a gas leak, but based on the facilities team’s follow-up work, there is no gas leak and the smells cause has not been confirmed. It is important to note, gas is not even connected to Rutledge which further confirms there is not a gas leak,” said Oates.
Oates noted the importance of renovations in buildings to help with safety on campus while balancing out the budget for the university.
“Renovations are important for many reasons, but most importantly to ensure the safety & security of the Winthrop Community including students, faculty, & staff. It is also important that we prioritize safety and security renovations first vs. cosmetic renovations which might be nice, but we have to balance with the funding available,” said Oates.
One way that Winthrop Controllers have tried to work with the Winthrop housing is to help improve the image of on campus residency and address needs to current buildings.
