In the wake of the devastating fire at the Brookside on College apartment complex, management has reached an agreement with Stephens College to house its displaced tenants in the fall.
Brookside announced Friday morning on its [Facebook page](http://facebook.com/brookside.livethelife) it plans to lease 100 beds in Hillcrest Hall, a Stephens College building located on the east side of campus on the corner of Broadway and Williams Street.
Stephens has been in talks with Brookside since the fire to help house the displaced residents, said Amy Gipson, vice president of marketing and public relations for Stephens College.
“We’re neighbors,” Gipson said. “We help where we can.”
Hillcrest Hall has two-room furnished and unfurnished apartments for seniors, and each apartment has a kitchen and private bathroom, according to the Stephens College website.
“Stephens has capacity in this particular building and a history or leasing space in Hillcrest to MU for student housing,” Stephens College President Dianne Lynch said in the release. “We are glad to be able to help Brookside by offering temporary living quarters to their residents.”
The shape of Hillcrest Hall makes it ideal for housing displaced residents of Brookside, Gipson said.
“That hall is comprised of separate wings that can be closed off from each other,” she said. “With that separation, there won’t be an issue of the two genders living together.”
The fire began just after 5 a.m. May 27 and caused an estimated $7 million in damage to the complex, which was set to open this fall. The complex has 73 apartment units spanning three stories and 145,000 total square feet. The fire took 40 firefighters, 12 fire trucks and more then 2 million gallons of water to extinguish, according to a Columbia Fire Department news release.
The complex was most likely a total loss, but the owners of the complex began rebuilding just a few days after the fire, a [press release from the Columbia Fire Department](http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/Public_Information/Press_Releases/view.php?id=652) stated.
Since the fire, Brookside officials have released several updates on its Facebook page about the status of the building. Brookside management initially estimated 30 percent of the units would be completed by August, and that number has since increased to 47 percent. The remaining 53 percent will be completed on or before Oct. 15. Structural engineers were on site the day of the fire to start identifying parts of the building that can be completed by fall, according to statements from Brookside.
Management has also been emailing future tenants of the apartment building to keep them updated on the status of their individual units.
The updates have been very calming, said sophomore Julian Douglass, a future resident.
“(Brookside has) taken their time to give us fair estimates on time and not just act as someone who just shows sympathy,” Douglass said.
Brookside worked Saturday to remove all insulation, sheetrock and other finishing elements from the standing portions of the building to eliminate the risk of moisture-related problems for future residents, according to its Facebook page.
Stephens College also suffered some damage from the radiant heat, including broken windows and melted venting, Gipson said. The college is still in the process of assessing that damage. The initial cause and origin of the fire is still under investigation.
