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A blaze that tore through Conway’s historic Whittemore Elementary School even further degraded its stability — forcing city leaders to potentially take prompt action to protect public safety, officials said on Thursday.

“Significant portions of the building are gone and the remainder is structurally compromised ... the risk of public harm is severely elevated by the recent fire,” city spokeswoman June Wood said March 9 via email.

S.C Law Enforcement Division spokeswoman Renee Wunderlich said an arson probe remains active, but the agency’s on-site investigation has concluded.

The council initially planned to meet virtually at 4 p.m. on Thursday to discuss demolition costs and suspend a redevelopment proposal offered by the Whittemore Racepath Historical Society, but the session was postponed.

“After consideration, they (the city council) felt a meeting of this importance should be done in person,” Wood said in an email. That’s now likely to happen at 10 a.m. on March 13. A location has yet to be announced.

In a written statement provided March 9 to The Sun News, Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy, whose formative years were spent learning inside Whittemore’s classrooms, said pondering its destruction, while emotional, must be weighed against the city’s best long-term interests.

“City staff and city council are aware of the frequent use of the building by adults for shelter or nefarious activity. Stolen goods have been found inside, and illegal occupants often barricade doors from inside. It is the risk to human life that most troubles me,” Blain-Bellamy said. “Early reports indicate the structural integrity of the building is seriously compromised.”

Wood said data on the number of citations and arrests made in connection with illegal use of the Whittemore property was not immediately available.

Historical society president Cheryl Adamson was among those who pressed Blain-Bellamy and other council members to reconsider the online meeting format.

“We certainly appreciate that they have changed their mind about doing a Zoom meeting so quickly around what is such a critical issue to our community,” Adamson said.

City Council member William Goldfinch IV said he wants to preserve Whittemore, but fears too much damage has been done already.

“Every intention was to remodel the facility and transform it into some type of community center,” Goldfinch said. The city took ownership of the Whittemore site in 2017, when Horry County Schools relinquished it. “Unfortunately given the fire and destruction, I don’t know what’s left to save.”

The 70-year-old building at 1904 Maple Street needed $30 million worth of renovations even before the fire, and city leaders have long said using public dollars to preserve it was not feasible.

“If the city retains ownership of this building, the only path forward probably is demolition,” city manager Adam Emrick told The Sun News in a December 2021 interview. “We would like to see it preserved too, but there comes a point where that can’t happen. And we’ve reached that point.”

In November 2022, the Whittemore Racepath Historical Society presented a $16 million plan that would flip the segregation-era school into a mixed-use hub of culture and living.

The city has until December 2024 to consider any other ideas, but can close the proposal window any time before that at their discretion.

Blain-Bellamy said information expected to made public on Monday from city engineers and other staff will sway her decision about Whittemore’s fate.

“If recommendations by staff and other professionals convince me that the risk to human life is substantial, I — one who loves the building, the memories and the history it represents, will be compelled to support razing the building to the ground,” she said.

Goldfinch said if the building needs to be removed, he’d support turning the area into a recreational space that pays tribute to Whittemore’s contributions to the city.

“I can’t speak for the entire council, but I think everybody would be on board with that,” he said.

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team snapped a two-match skid and jumped back into the win column in a big way with a 4-0 win over SCAD at home on Saturday afternoon in Conway, S.C.

The Chanticleers opened up the match with a 6-1 win on court No. 1 in doubles play from the duo of Maj Tomac and Carlos Berna Ruiz and then picked up the doubles point with a 6-2 victory from the pair of Neil O'Connor and Jesus Garcia on court No. 3.

O'Connor carried over the momentum from his doubles win into singles play with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of Gui Sousa on court No. 5, while Berna Ruiz got back on the right track with a 6-2, 6-1 win on court No. 1 over Mark Tryakshin.

With the 3-0 match lead in favor of the Men in Teal, Ryuya Ata continued his winning streak with a 6-3, 6-1 straight-set win on court No. 4 over Johan Karlsson to seal the home win for the Chanticleers.

When the match was decided, the Chanticleers' Tomac held a lead on court No. 3, while freshman Rivers Cahill was in front on court No. 6.

The Chanticleers (9-4) will return to action tomorrow, March 12, at No. 14 nationally-ranked Wake Forest at 3 p.m. ET.

Coastal Carolina 4, SCAD 0 Doubles 1. / (CCU) def. David Lopez Cruz/Danil Ozernoy (SCAD) – 6-1 2. / (CCU) vs. Mark Tryakshin/Johan Karlsson (SCAD) – 4-3 3. / (CCU) def. Liam Stoica/Carson O'hara (SCAD) – 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 3

Singles 1. (CCU) def. Mark Tryakshin (SCAD) – 6-2, 6-1 2. Danil Ozernoy (SCAD) vs. (CCU) – 6-3, 1-2, unfinished 3. (CCU) vs. Liam Stoica (SCAD) – 7-6, unfinished 4. (CCU) def. Johan Karlsson (SCAD) – 6-3, 6-1 5. (CCU) def. Gui Sousa (SCAD) – 6-0, 6-1 6. (CCU) vs. Carson O'hara (SCAD) – 6-1, 3-4, unfinished

Order of Finish: 5, 1, 4

For complete coverage of Coastal Carolina Men's Tennis, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMTennis (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina women's lacrosse team will host the Iona Gaels on Sunday, March 12, at Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina University. The opening draw is scheduled for noon ET in Conway, S.C.

Coastal enters the contest at 3-2 overall after giving the Boston Terriers their first loss of the season at 13-9 last Tuesday, while the Gaels enter play at 6-1 on the year.

ASUN WOMEN'S LACROSSE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK CCU's goalkeeper Claire Martell was tabbed the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week for her performance versus the VCU Rams last Saturday. The Verbank, N.Y., native recorded nine stops while facing 23 shots for a 56.3 save percentage. Martell allowed just seven goals for the match, including holding the Rams scoreless in the third quarter to snap a two-game skid on the season.

COASTAL vs. IONA HISTORY The Chanticleers and Iona will be meeting for the first time. The Gaels are the second of six opponents the Chants will face for the first time this season.

ABOUT COASTAL The CCU offense is led by Kayla Downey (13 goals, 7 assists) with 20 points, while Avery McIlwaine (13 goals, 2 assists), Hope Steuerwald (11 goals), Avery Snyder (2 goals, 9 assists) are close behind with 15, 11, and 11 points, respectively. The offense is ignited by Devin Rybacki and McIlwaine, as the duo has won 17 and 16 draw controls each.

Defensively, the Chants are anchored by their starting goalkeeper Martell, who has started all five contests. The redshirt junior goalie has stopped 38 shots and allowed 41 goals in almost 250 minutes in the cage on the season. Claudia Kelly has forced seven turnovers and grabbed six groundballs to help return possession back to the offense.

ABOUT IONA Iona is led by Micaela FitzPatrick (17 goals, 16 assists) with 33 points, while Kira Varada (22 goals, 7 assists), Amber Brewster (17 goals, 1 assist), Alexa Maggiacomo (6 goals, 8 assists), and Emily Stewart (12 goals) have added double-digit points. Varada often gets the offense started by winning 40 of the 105 Gael draw controls to lead the team.

Defensively, Iona's goalie Sofia Votto has started in all seven contests having allowed 57 goals and made 58 saves in the 149 shots faced. Varada leads the team with 27 caused turnovers, while scooping up a team-high 29 groundballs.

For complete coverage of CCU women's lacrosse, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWLax (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.

CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — If your green thumb couldn't wait for the final frost to pass before bringing fresh fruits and veggies from your backyard right into your kitchen, then you'll want to keep reading.

The Grand Strand could get a potential frost early next week and Lynn's Berries owner Jimmy Hammond said he and his family started covering their strawberry crops Thursday night to prepare for the upcoming freezing temps, and he suggests you do the same.

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“What we gotta be concerned about right now is coming on Tuesday morning/Wednesday morning. We got a heavy frost coming so we went ahead and started covering our fields as we speak due to the cold air and major winds," Hammond said.

He said he and his family start planting the berry seeds as early as the fall, and he doesn't want to lose an entire winter's worth of work in one night.

“We don’t wanna lose these berries that have taken us since the middle of October to get here on the first of April," he said.

For the sake of the family business, he said it's crucial to save the most important part of the plant, from the frost.

“One of the main things we’re trying to do is protect these flowers right here. That centerpiece of the plant right there. If we don’t plant those, that’s a strawberry. In 21 days that will be a big, beautiful, red strawberry," he said.

Hammond said the best way to protect your plants is to cover them with a cloth-like material.

“If they’ve got something in the ground right now, they’re going to need to cover it and weight it down real good because the winds we’re going to be having is going to blow the covers off," he said.

Hammond said the best time to start planting your fruits and vegetables is April 15th.

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He said most of the time, there won't be a frost after that date.

Hammond and his family want to encourage everyone to buy their produce from local farmers when possible.

For more information on Lynn's Berries, click here.

CONWAY, S.C. – Coming off a win over No. 68 nationally-ranked Liberty on Thursday, March 9, the Coastal Carolina women's team will welcome two teams from the state of Georgia to the Stevens Tennis Complex on Saturday, March 11, as the Chanticleers will host both Georgia Southern and SCAD in a doubleheader.

The Chanticleers will open up Sun Belt Conference play versus the Georgia Southern Eagles at 10 a.m. ET and then turn around to host SCAD in a non-conference match at 3 p.m. ET.

Coastal enters the weekend at 6-4 overall and riding a six-match winning streak, including four-straight wins at home over the last two weeks with victories over Longwood (March 5), UNCG (March 5), Mount St. Mary's (March 7), and No. 68 Liberty (March 9).

Over the six-match winning streak, the Chants have been led by the doubles team of Anna Babayan and Megan Hopton, who have won their last six matches and are 8-2 overall on the season, and the duo of Jesse Hollins and Victoire De Samucewicz, who are 4-0 on the season with three unfinished contests.

In singles play, both Hopton and Hollins are on six-match win streaks, while De Samucewicz has won four of her last five singles contests, with the last one versus Liberty going unfinished.

Georgia Southern heads to Conway, S.C., at 9-2 overall on the season, including posting back-to-back wins over Florida A&M (March 4) and Davidson (March 5) last weekend.

The Eagles and Chants have played four common opponents this spring in Clemson, Presbyterian, Charleston Southern, and the College of Charleston. Coastal went 1-3 overall versus the four foes, with the lone win a 7-0 win on the road at Presbyterian (Feb. 20), while the Eagles went 2-1 with wins over Charleston Southern (Feb. 18) and the College of Charleston (Feb. 24). Their match with Presbyterian was postponed.

SCAD enters the weekend ranked No. 3 nationally in the latest NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (March 8) and 6-3 overall.

The Bees have won each of their last three matches, all of which were on their home court, and are 0-1 on the season playing on their opponent's home court.

Live scoring for both home matches can be found here: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=coas.

For complete coverage of Coastal Carolina Women's Tennis, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWTennis (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.