Fire destroys Providence’s Bergen Hall

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This article was published 01/06/2017 (2902 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A large fire at Providence University College has left the campus without its largest residence building. Bergen Hall, the men’s dormitory with space for 128 residents, went up in flames late Thursday afternoon.

University College Academic Dean Cameron McKenzie surveyed the scene on Thursday evening as fire crews tended to hot spots on the east side of the building, where the most major damage was evident.

McKenzie said he left his office around 4:45 p.m. and saw smoke coming from the south side of the building, over the top of the roof.

“It was clear at that time that it was already a significant fire,” he said.

Fire crews from Niverville, St Malo and St Pierre arrived around 5 p.m. McKenzie credited them with preventing the blaze from spreading beyond the building itself.

No one was inside at the time.

“We knew there was no one in the building,” McKenzie said, “That was the great relief. Buildings can always be replaced.”

The debt of thanks was also owed to maintenance employees Andy Martin and Randy Bechard, as well as a neighbour, Emile Morin, who supplied additional water to help put out the blaze, the college said in a release issued on Thursday evening.

At present the cause of the fire is unknown.

Bergen Hall was built in 1984, thanks to the generous support of philatrophist Martin Bergen, who died at the age of 90 earlier this year. Bergen’s gift was well-remembered by Seminary Academic Dean Stan Hamm, who also watched as fire crews worked on the blaze Thursday. Hamm recalled how Bergen not only donated the funds to construct the dorm, but personally oversaw the construction process as project manager.

The building was showing signs of its age, in fact, extensive work was currently underway to replace siding as well as windows on the upper floor of the building.

The loss of the residence will require some adjustments, particularly to prepare for summer sports camps that Providence plans to host in about six weeks.

McKenzie said Bergen Hall was always their preferred building to use for the camps, as it allowed them to host the 90 to 100 campers in a single building. He was confident the college’s remaining women’s residences and fourplexes would be able to accommodate the program as well as summer education programs and graduate courses, which will be held prior to start of the fall semester.

Come September, the residence would normally be expected to be mostly occupied. McKenzie said they would meet on Friday to begin making plans for addressing that housing challenge.

“Clearly that’s going to be our big planning piece moving forward. We’ll have to figure out what’s the best way in the short term to accommodate our students.”

He estimated the loss to be in the range of $3.5 to $4.5 million.

“Through insurance and other things like that we’ll probably be able to find our way forward, but it will take some work unquestionably.”