In August of 2018, Byrnes was shut down due to a rooftop fire during construction. Since then, reconstruction has halted and resumed and is currently making new accommodations to allow the auditorium to become ADA-compliant as it wasn’t before Brynes was closed.
Dr. Elisa Koehler, the chair of the department of music, wasn’t working at Winthrop during the the time of the fire but has since been able to see the interior of Brynes and has been able to be kept up on details regarding renovations. Koheler has also been informed that construction will be able to begin sometime in the near future.
“They always planned to renovate Brynes because the main issue that I want to emphasize is the building is not handicapped accessible. It’s not ADA-compliant. So that’s what the renovations were originally for back in 2018,” Koehler said.
While it has been almost 5 years since the shutdown of Brynes, Koehler wants to address the concerns on the delay of construction and why there hasn’t been much change in the state of Brynes.
“I can tell you there was insurance litigation in the wake of the fire during the pandemic. And we would probably assume that if everything shut down for the pandemic, it would be the perfect time to fix a building when no one is there, right? But we weren’t able to do that for various legal issues that I am not privy to.” Koehler said.
“But the good news is that we have selected a contractor to do the work. I was on the committee that selected what we call the CMR which decides who will be doing the actual work, and they will start soon. I can’t tell you when I don’t know. We are not able to say anything yet. Other than that, we do have a company selected to do the work and we’re in final negotiations for their contract.”
Byrnes, for many, is considered the heart of the music department and it has been disappointing as well as an adjustment for current students and former students alike to not have access to the building.
Current 5th-year senior, Taylor Fussell, was excited for the chance to perform at Brynes Auditorium when she started, yet it was quickly halted as the year she enrolled happened to coincide with the start of construction on Byrnes.
“I was actually on campus the day it closed. So my freshman year, my class, the class that was supposed to graduate in 2022, we were actually the last class to have our convocation in that auditorium. Right after we left, they closed the doors of Brynes and sealed it up, and they were going to start reconstructing it,” she said
Fussell elaborated, saying, “The first day of classes that fall, there was the initial fire that happened. “But I only had one opportunity to play on that stage. It was actually as a prospective student. I was here, doing a tour of campus doing my audit for the music department, and I got to sit in with the wind symphony ensemble on that stage. So that was really my only experience on the stage and then my convocation in the auditorium.”
Fussell expressed frustration over how the shutdown of Brynes has impacted her and her fellow classmates.
“It’s actually been a really big inconvenience for the music department because the only other auditorium on campus that can hold all of us and handle all of our instruments and everything else is actually Tillman auditorium. So every day for rehearsal, because we have two band ensembles, every student has to lug everything from the music department to Tillman. So like for the smaller instruments, it’s not that big of a deal. Like for me, I play clarinet, so it’s not that big of a problem.” Fussell said.
“But for the tuba players, they actually have to go down to the basement, get their stuff and carry it across campus. And for percussion, they have to communicate with facilities to make sure all of the right precaution equipment is transferred from the music department to Tillman. And it just becomes a big hassle to make sure everything is where it needs to be.”
Fussell also noted that losing the opportunity to play at Brynes has been a disappointment in their overall experience at Winthrop.
“From what I’ve known after talking to some friends, some people have come to Winthrop for that auditorium,” Fussell said. “They come for Brynes and to not have that opportunity to play there while being here has been very disappointing for them.”
Although there has now been an update given on the status of Brynes, Fussell notes that communication being received to music students the past few years was close to non-existent.
“From talking with my friends and everything, because we all have opinions, and we’re kind of on the same opinion regarding this. But we kind of felt as though we were being pushed off in a way because we weren’t getting updated. And whenever you look at what renovations are coming to campus this year, Brynes never really had a date on it until this past year.” Fussell said
“It caused a lot of tension within our department, it felt like, at least from the student perspective, because we weren’t getting that recruitment that we had been getting before. I just feel like the communication could have been slightly better.”
Anne Lewis Turner, now a graduate assistant of the department of music, used to perform in Brynes frequently and can understand the importance of Brynes and what it’s like to have the chance to perform and appreciate that space.
“ We had to fill up this huge venue, this huge auditorium. So for rehearsal purposes, it was great, I mean, we’re in this great space, we have plenty of room to move around. We have storage, and we can understand our responsibilities as a musician.” Turner said.
“I guess the difference is now, that many of the students here don’t know any difference, since we now rehearse in one auditorium.”
Turner hopes that when Brynes is restored, that people who had missed opportunities will be able to enjoy it in the future.
“I really hope that maybe when it does open again, there’s like a big celebration or a grand opening, like a huge concert and maybe get the alumni involved.” Turner said.
“Because I know a lot of us musicians would probably jump at that opportunity to be like when can we play in Brynes again? Let’s go, I want to be there.”
