ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — The tallest building in Orangeburg happens to be a freshman dorm on the South Carolina State University's campus.
Truth Hall was constructed in 1972 and at 14 floors, upper floors of the freshman tower are not accessible by firetrucks. Therefore, due to recent change in city code requirements the university has not been able to use the upper floors of the freshman tower in recent years. The renovation fund comes from $10 million that the state awarded to the school.
The renovation will include new furniture and a new safety addition which President Conyers says will give the university the opportunity to house more incoming students.
“We haven’t been utilizing any floors above the sixth floor for the last five years or so just for safety reasons," said Conyers. "Because of the outdated sprinkler systems and not having the appropriate fire suppression. So out of an abundance of caution we took those floors offline.”
Freshman who have moved into Truth Hall for fall of 2023 will be moved to Rowe Hall, Nix Hall or Queen Residences Village. All three are currently being renovated and fitted for the move in the spring.
For incoming freshmen like Kierra Petty, the idea of moving out at the end of the semester impacts how much they plan on unpacking. Petty believes that she is not going to unpack as much as she was originally planning to.
“So, I'm not going to take out everything," said Petty "I going to just take out the stuff I'm going to just wear, I’m not going to overdo myself.”
Kierra’s mom, Kimisa Petty, recently found out that her daughter would have to move again before the end of her freshman year. Petty believes that the move at the end of the semester shouldn’t be much of a problem as they have been helped with fall move in so far.
“So it does need some renovation, and we understand that," said Petty. "We accept change. Change is for the better as long as it's good. They had a lot of help out here to help her move her things in. I didn’t really have to lift a thing. So hopefully it will be that way when they remodel.”
The renovation of Truth Hall is expected to be completed in time for fall classes in 2024.
