Rebuilding the Braun

The interior walls have been removed, smoke damage has been cleaned and construction crews are in as the Braun Building at Lakehead University gets ready for the 21st century.

In July of 2008, 20,000-square feet of the building were damaged by fire and subsequent smoke and water damage on the first and second floors of the building. Standing near the fire’s point of origin Friday afternoon, LU’s physical plant director Hugh Briggs said the demolition of the effected areas, which began last fall, is well underway.

"It’s pretty much an open slate here a clean slate on the second floor. All the walls have been removed from the interior partitions," said Briggs. "It’s taken a couple of months to get to this point that we’re at right now."

Briggs said he knew the rebuilding effort would take time after he saw the extent of the damage after the fire. While construction costs haven’t been finalized, Briggs said a preliminary estimate of construction costs is $2.5 million. He said the final tally would be more than that.

The second floor was home to the faculties of languages, anthropology and native nursing while the first floor housed parts of the university’s communications and forestry departments. All of departments have been given temporary new homes on the campus.

Briggs said the renovations to the Braun Building, which was built in 1959, will include new technology and at least one 60 seat classroom; something Briggs said the university really needs.

"It’s taken a long time to get here to try and determine what the costs of the fire replacement is but we believe we’re on the right track now and we will get what we need which is a rebuilt Braun Building to today’s technology," said Briggs.

While the Fire Marshall has ruled out arson and electrical problems as a cause of the fire, Briggs said the cause of the fire is still undetermined. The cause, Briggs added, may never be known.

"The fire was so hot and so intense that I’m not sure if they’ll ever be able to determine what the actual cause of the fire was," Briggs said.

Briggs said the university is hoping to have the renovations complete in time for the next fall semester in September 2010.