Flanagan Building renovations complete

East Carolina University officially opened the doors to the Flanagan Building Thursday after the completion of a $13.8 million renovation project that revamped and restored classrooms, laboratories and offices.
First built in 1939 at the cost of $325,000, the building now houses the departments of anthropology, geology and science and math education. The Ph.D. program in Coastal Resources Management and the Institute for Costal and Marine Resources are also located in Flanagan. The structure provides 21 classrooms and laboratories and 70 offices.

“Flanagan is one of the oldest, most majestic, most important — and now open — buildings at ECU,” said Chancellor Steve Ballard at the ceremonial ribbon cutting that attracted about 100 people, including legislators, local leaders, students and former students. “As the sign says, ‘Flanagan is renovated and ready for business.”

Flanagan has housed various programs over the years, including home economics, commerce, geography and chemistry. The $3.1 billion Higher Education Improvement bonds of 2000 funded the most recent renovations. The bonds also funded the construction of the new Science and Technology Building.

The building was named after Edward Gaskill Flanagan, a businessman who was active in the growth of Greenville and the university in the first half of the 20th century. In 1993 the building became a part of the East Carolina Historical District. It has undergone six renovations.