Recently, a fire broke out in the under-repair Minglun Campus Auditorium at Henan University, causing the collapse and damage of this “national-level cultural relic” building. The building, which has stood for 90 years, having withstood the ravages of war, was tragically destroyed overnight. Investigation revealed that the university had been pressing the construction team to work overtime, and the project had been subcontracted multiple times.
On May 2nd at around 23:20, a fire broke out in the former Henan American-European Preparatory School Auditorium on the Henan University campus during renovation. Aerial footage of the scene showed the auditorium severely damaged by the fire, with the roof mostly collapsed and the building charred black. The related terms of the fire quickly surged to the top of trending topics on Weibo.
The reason this building has garnered widespread attention is because the full name of the auditorium is the “Former Henan American-European Preparatory School Auditorium of Henan University,” constructed over three years (1931-1934) during the tenure of President Xu Xinwu of the Nationalist Government, at a cost of 210,000 Ocean Dollars. It is renowned as an exemplary model of modern “East-meets-West” style university architecture and designated as a key national cultural heritage site.
Having endured the baptism of war during the War of Resistance against Japan and the Chinese Civil War, the building had stood strong for 90 years. However, it was tragically destroyed in one night.
On the evening of May 3rd, the Henan Provincial Fire and Safety Committee Office issued a notice stating that the responsible persons had been apprehended by the public security authorities. A joint investigation team had been established locally to conduct an escalated investigation.
According to reports from The Paper and CRI Online, on August 23, 2023, the Henan Province Government Procurement Website released a competitive negotiation announcement for the renovation project of the Former Henan American-European Preparatory School Auditorium at Henan University, with a budget of 6.5 million yuan and a contract duration of 180 calendar days. The project was to be completed by April 7, 2024, from the date the contractor, Henan University, officially notified the commencement of work.
The announcement of the successful bid for the renovation project of the auditorium, as published on September 15, 2023, by the Henan Province Government Procurement Website, indicated that Beijing Tongxing Ancient Architecture Engineering Co., Ltd. (“Tongxing Company”) won the project with a bid of 4.356 million yuan.
Information from QCC showed that Tongxing Company was established in 1999, with Xu Changlin as its legal representative. The company had won bids for renovation projects at cultural heritage sites in various parts of the country, including the Palace Museum, the Tianfengshan Ancient Architecture Complex, and the modern and contemporary architecture complex of the former Qilu University.
On March 15, 2023, Tongxing Company was fined 25,000 yuan by the Dongcheng District Fire and Rescue Brigade for fire safety violations, including setting up dormitories (housing 29 people) at the construction site and smoking on-site.
Xu Changlin, the legal representative of Tongxing Company, the contractor for the renovation project, stated in a recent interview with China Voice that they had completed the interior work of the auditorium in late April and were mainly working on roofing before the fire broke out.
“We were mainly responsible for hanging tiles on the roof, while other parts were handled by others, whom I do not know, but should be local construction workers from Kaifeng,” said Du Lei, the person in charge of the subcontracting project, in an interview with “Southern Weekend.”
Du Lei revealed that their cooperation with Beijing Tongxing was akin to a general contractor and subcontractor relationship, with the subcontractor receiving 80% of the project payment and the general contractor earning 20%. Despite completing most of the project, Tongxing had not paid any project funds yet, leaving them short of tens of thousands of yuan.
Regarding the cause of the fire in the auditorium, Du Lei claimed that their responsibility was the exterior tile-hanging, which did not involve night work and operated from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm. He asserted that the accident was not related to their work.
Reports suggested the possibility of overtime rush work in the recent renovation of the auditorium. Under the aforementioned contract, the renovation was to be completed within 180 calendar days by April 7, 2024. However, at the time of the fire, the project was still ongoing, clearly exceeding the agreed completion period.
On April 17, the Henan University Vice President Zhang Xiangdong chaired a meeting of the “Auditorium Repair Task Force” at the General Affairs Office, emphasizing the need to accelerate the progress of critical projects like the auditorium renovation, with a focus on meeting deadlines and ensuring quality completion.
Du Lei disclosed that both Henan University and Beijing Tongxing had been urging them to speed up the project, with their work team working almost every day without rest. He was unsure if other subcontractors’ teams were also working overtime at night.
Professor Zhao Kui from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Huazhong University of Science and Technology explained in an interview with The Paper that in the early 20th century, the introduction of Western higher education concepts and systems had given rise to a series of institutions blending Eastern and Western elements. These buildings met the needs of modern higher education while incorporating traditional Chinese architectural elements and employing cutting-edge construction techniques of the time. Examples included Tsinghua University and Peking University designed by American architect Murphy, Wuhan University by Yells, and Sichuan University and Hunan University designed by the first-generation Chinese architects, Yang Yanbao and Liu Shiying.
Zhao Kui noted that among these “East-meets-West” buildings, the Henan University Auditorium had utilized advanced technology, creating the nation’s largest large-span space. The auditorium featured a 27-meter long British-style steel roof truss, eight columns supporting the steel roof truss and floor weight, reinforced cement foundation, having withstood five seismic events of magnitude 5 or higher, remaining as strong as ever. Additionally, the intricate and exquisite traditional Chinese wooden decorations within the auditorium were relatively rare among university buildings of that era.