Plans are in motion to replace the Winthrop Coliseum roof next spring, funded through an allocation from the state for several roof projects on Winthrop’s campus.
The cost to replace the roof on the coliseum is about $2 million. The project’s anticipated start date is in late February 2022, and the roof replacement should be completed by August 2022.
According to Associate Vice President of Facilities Management James Grigg, the current roof is original to the building and has needed to be replaced for the last five or so years.
“It has [been] repaired and temporarily patched over its life, but in the last five years, it was past the point of repairing and needed to be replaced,” Grigg said.
Winthrop Coliseum was built in 1982 at the cost of $10.7 million and is home to the Winthrop men’s and women’s basketball teams and the women’s volleyball team. It also serves as the headquarters for the athletic department.
“The critical item is the removal of the existing roofing when we need to close the arena floor, and so that has been the challenge to find a window that works for Athletics,” Grigg said.
According to Grigg, Winthrop had hoped to accomplish the coliseum’s roof replacement this past summer but was unable to due to project cost increases and complications with material delivery and timing. As of now, the plan is to begin the project after basketball season.
During the last two seasons, Winthrop’s basketball teams have played in the coliseum all the way into March, hosting Big South Tournament games. This season, however, the Big South Conference has chosen a neutral site, Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, to host the conference tournaments.
The coliseum’s need for a new roof has been apparent over the last several years through leaks in the ceiling, resulting in one area of the concourse inside the gym being blocked off with buckets and wet floor signs during last spring’s limited-attendance volleyball and basketball seasons.
“Until the roof is replaced, we will continue to mitigate any damage from leaks,” Griggs said. “Once the roof is water-tight, we will start repairing damage.”
The allocation from the state that will be used to fund the Winthrop Coliseum roof replacement will also fund roof projects on other campus buildings, including Dinkins Hall, Johnson Hall and McLaurin Hall.
