Repairs Start at Damaged Eating Club

Repairs began this week on a Princeton eating club severely damaged by a fire last month, but investigators have not yet determined the cause of the blaze and members of the club are now forced to eat elsewhere, officials said this week.

The Terrace Club, one of the 13 eating clubs where Princeton juniors and seniors traditionally take their meals, burst into flames last month, leaving the club's 160 members without a place to dine and a traditional social center.

As a result of the blaze, which started in an unused basement room and caused $350,00 in damage, the members are now eating in a university dining facility for upperclassmen who choose not to join an eating club.

Club members hope to be able to return to a partially-repaired club for meals by early next month, senior Lisa Cornelio said. "They're blocking off the damaged side so we can use the left side for meals and social events," she said.

Insurance will cover some of the money needed to fix the damage caused by the blaze, but it may not cover all of it, Cornelio said. Club members are exploring ways of raising the additional funds if necessary, she added.

Although the eating clubs are financially independent of Princeton, the university has in the past come to the rescue of clubs experiencing financial difficulties, said Assistant Dean of Students Steven Cochran, the university's liaison to the eating clubs.

"There is some precedent for providing loans for eating clubs, but Terrace may not need one at this point because they have insurance," Cochran said.

"We have worked through a lot of ways of helping Terrace Club. It is an important community to Princeton and we are happy to help," Cochran said.

Investigators have discounted their initial idea that a cigarette may have caused the blaze, said William Majewski, the fire code enforcement official heading the investigation.

The investigation was largely stalled by winter break. "We have been waiting for students and employees to return so we can reinterview them," he said.

Among the questions the investigation has raised thus far is why the club's fire alarm system was not on when the fire occurred, Majewski said.

Since the fire, the "Terrans" have stressed maintaining close bonds with each other even if their social center is temporarily gone.

"In the end, Terrace is not a building. The true Terrace is our family, and we are together in this, and Terrace is not to disappear," wrote club president Molly Blieden in a letter to The Daily Princetonian.