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Citadel looking to demolish

and rebuild iconic Capers
Hall
By Paul Bowers pbowers@postandcourier.com
Oct 11, 2017 # (5)

Capers Hall is located at the main entrance to Buy Now

The Citadel. Brad Nettles/Sta
Brad Nettles bnettles@postandcourier.com

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Any Citadel cadet can point the way to Capers

Hall. The fortress-like white building at the
southeast corner of campus holds classrooms
and oces for academic departments
including English, History and Political
Science.

Citing a need for renovations and improved

protection against earthquake damage,
Citadel ocials are looking to demolish the
iconic 1949 building and replace it with a
bigger, sturdier, more modern structure
while maintaining the school's Moorish
architectural style.

Citadel ocials estimated the project will cost

about $51.1 million in a document submitted
Tuesday to the state Joint Bond Review
Committee. If the public military college
receives nal approval from the State Fiscal
Accountability Board on Oct. 17, it will fund
much of the project by issuing bonds, aiming
to complete the new building in 2021. It would
be razed and built in phases staring in the fall
of 2019 to preserve classroom space during
construction.

The new building would be 104,844 square

feet 40 percent larger than the current
one thanks to additional rooms in the rear
of the hall. In addition to eight academic
departments, it would contain oces for The
Citadel's diversity and study-abroad
programs.

It would also be the home of The Citadel's

cybersecurity program, with at least one new
feature for the campus. According to Bo
Moore, dean of humanities and social
sciences, the building would include a
Sensitive Compartmented Information
Facility, or SCIF an enclosed area used by
military and intelligence personnel with
security clearances to access sensitive
intelligence data.

"Its a rare capability for a college, particularly

a college our size," Moore said.

The plans also include a three-story atrium, 37

classrooms, seven computer classrooms, a
250-seat auditorium, a ne arts classroom,
psychology lab rooms and an art gallery.
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The Citadel provided this rendering of a replacement for

Capers Hall, a 1949 building that houses several
academic departments and classrooms. The new
building would be 40 percent larger and feature more
windows to provide natural light. Provided/The Citadel
Provided/The Citadel

"We expect this to be a place where the

community will gather for lectures, arts
events and the like," Moore said.

Capers Hall was named for two brothers,

Confederate Brig. Gen. Ellison Capers
and Maj. Francis W. Capers, who was
superintendent of The Citadel from 1853 to
1859. Col. John Dorrian, vice president for
communications and marketing, said the
school has not decided if the new building will
keep the old name.

The Citadel originally sought approval from

the state to do extensive renovations at
Capers Hall, but it opted for a total rebuild
after conducting a structural evaluation in
2014, according to Dorrian.

They discovered that the steel-frame building

had un-reinforced brick and concrete
masonry walls that would not be able to
withstand a major earthquake such as the
1886 quake that laid large swaths of
Charleston to waste. Rather than spend an
estimated $7 million to $8 million reinforcing
those walls to meet modern international
building codes, Dorrian said the school
decided to start from scratch on a new
building.

This isn't the rst time The Citadel has torn

down a campus building and replaced it with
a similar-looking structure. In 2004, The
Citadel built a $28 million replacement for the
Padgett-Thomas Barracks, intentionally
designed as a near-replica of the 1922
original.

Before the rebuild, Padgett-Thomas was

literally falling apart chunks of concrete
were spalling, or aking o, and the school
installed plywood and metal shields in the late
1990s to protect cadets from the debris.

While Capers Hall hasn't started to crumble

like the old barracks building, Dorrian said it is
ready for replacement.

"If youve been in Capers Hall recently, youll

see we have a track record of getting full use
and life out of the buildings that we have,"
Dorrian said.

This story has been corrected. Capers Hall

does not contain the Math department.

Mold problems
The Citadel is sending in cleaning crews
and dehumidiers to battle an outbreak
of mold in the cadet barracks.

Ocials at the public military college

this week reported mold issues aecting
hundreds of cadets' rooms, mostly in
the Law and Padgett-Thomas barracks
buildings. Initial swab tests indicated the
mold genus is Cladosporium, a common
indoor fungus, according to the school.
Cladosporium is not often toxic but can
cause allergic reactions and worsen
asthma symptoms with its airborne
spores.

"Unfortunately, mold issues are

prevalent across the Lowcountry this fall
due to the excessive heat, rain and
humidity," said Col. John Dorrian, vice
president for communications and
marketing, in a prepared statement.

Dorrian said The Citadel has placed

dehumidiers in 230 rooms and will
soon install 270 more. The college has
also hired a cleaning contractor "to
supplement eorts to remove mold
from surfaces," Dorrian said, in addition
to contractors who regularly clean and
maintain air-conditioning systems.

Going forward, the school says it plans

to conduct additional swab and air
quality tests, and to hire an engineering
rm to assess the air-conditioning
systems in the two barracks.

Reach Paul Bowers at 843-937-5546. Follow him on

Twitter @paul_bowers.

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Tags The Citadel Capers Hall School Construction

Higher Education Education Preservation

Earthquakes Seismic Testing

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5 Comments Sort by Top

Add a comment...

Grant Villacrs
Capers Hall does not hold the Math Dept....
Not even in the building.
It does however hold the English Dept,
History, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Modern
Languages, Political Science, Fine Arts, and
Intelligence/Homeland Security departments.
Like Reply Mark as spam 1 Oct 11, 2017
7:46pm

Ainsley Jo Phillips
Freelance Writer/Online Journalist/Social Activist at Self
Employed/Freelance
It's been about 40 years ago, so I can't
remember all of the details, but at least one of
the older buildings in the quad on Ball State
University's campus was gutted and rebuilt on
the inside while leaving the beautiful exterior
standing. Why isn't this being seen as an
option in this case, as this building is even
MORE beautiful than the one in the quad. It
could be added onto from the back as well.
Like Reply Mark as spam Oct 12, 2017 3:19am

Guillermo Calvo Mahe

Political Analyst at Political Analyst, local media
It'll be a sad day for me when Capers Hall
comes down and sadder still if the name is not
retained. It's replacement looks to be beautiful
and efficient but so many of us learned so
many things there, not just facts but values
and objectivity, lessons that have made us
unusually successful in many, many
endeavours. Pat Conroy studied there, as did
my own son, as did so many of the friends I
hold most dear. But progress is progress and
our successors deserve the best.
Like Reply Mark as spam Oct 13, 2017 3:47pm
Edited

Rocky Dee
Charleston, South Carolina
Good idea! Ever been inside? It's kind of a
mess, definitely outdated and not an historic
sturcture. I hope they name the new place
Capers Hall, as well. I think the plan looks
good.
Like Reply Mark as spam Oct 12, 2017 7:48am

Paul Luman
I bet Tech and the City Council are salivating
on tearing it down and turning it into a mega
hotel.
Like Reply Mark as spam 1 Oct 12, 2017
4:34am

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