Extreme Home Makeover: Fraternity Edition

Light falls through a newly installed window onto a construction worker in the unfinished Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity house, which is currently under renovation.
Joshua Beckman The Daily Illini

Fraternity houses are notorious for being dirty, and many are close to falling apart. This should not be surprising: with 40-plus young men all living under the same roof and no moms to clean up after them, an unsanitary atmosphere is all but guaranteed. This is made worse by the fact that many of these houses were built more than 70 years ago. Some houses struggle to meet fire codes, while others have problems with old plumbing.

Several fraternities on campus are taking steps toward better housing. Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Kappa Lambda and Alpha Sigma Phi are all taking on major reconstruction projects in hopes of building more than just a new house.

Pi Kappa Alpha’s membership has been growing for the past ten years, said James Ouska, junior in LAS and president of Pi Kappa Alpha. Located at 102 E. Chalmers St. in Champaign, the new house will be worth $5.5 million and will contain 27,000 square feet.

The house will be four stories and will include a basement. It will have a two-story entryway, an elevator, three walk-out patios, and will also be fully air-conditioned, Ouska said. When it’s finished, 75 men will be able to live in the house, an increase from the 45 that the old house could contain.

The house is being funded by donations and investments by alumni and is expected to be finished in August of 2010, Ouska said, and 75 men have already signed housing contracts. Ouska said he is excited for the changes that the new house may bring for the fraternity.

“I think that it will instill more of a sense of pride in all the members,” he said. “It’ll also help bring in big numbers for rush.”

Alpha Kappa Lambda is remodeling their house at 401 E. Daniel St. in Champaign. Members are excited not only for a nicer house, but also because of the many alumni who have reconnected with the fraternity as a result of the project, said Tom Seewald, senior in Engineering and former president of Alpha Kappa Lambda.

“A lot of the alumni now are really interested in coming down and helping out, and not just with the house, but with programming too,” Seewald said. “We’re also putting a conference room in the house that would allow alumni to come down and do presentations.”

Five years ago, when the city of Champaign passed a law that required fraternity houses to have sprinklers, Alpha Kappa Lambda members and their alumni looked at various options and decided that it would be the right time and would be worth the cost to do major remodeling, Seewald said.

The remodeling will cost nearly $3.5 million and is being financed by donations from alumni and bank loans. The house is expected to be finished on July 1, 2010 and the new layout will allow 65 men to live in the house.

Alpha Sigma Phi is rebuilding their house for similar reasons. The chapter has worked hard to raise money through alumni donations. In addition, they sold the property to the chapter’s management construction company, who will lease it back as soon as the fraternity members raise enough money, said Matt Moore, senior in Business and president of Alpha Sigma Phi.

The house will cost between $4 and $5 million and will be much larger than the previous house. Over 60 men will be able to live in the house, which is expected to be finished in August of 2010, Moore said.

Unlike Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Kappa Lambda, Alpha Sigma Phi does not have a temporary house.

It has been challenging to recruit new members without a central location, Moore said.

“We’re doing the best that we can,” he said. “We can’t put a sign outside our chapter house to let people passing know that you have a rush event going on, so we have to rely on word of mouth.”

The men of Alpha Sigma Phi hope that the new house will increase both their presence on campus and their membership size.

“We’ll also have a stronger sense of brotherhood with more members living closer together, rather than dispersed around campus,” Moore said.

After construction on these houses is finished, these fraternities can look forward to something Theta Xi already has: a bigger, better establishment.

Theta Xi moved into their newly constructed house in the fall of 2009, and members said they enjoy living there. Though larger and nicer, the architecture and design has allowed for the house to maintain the same sort of feel as the old house, said Matt Misichko, junior in AHS and president of Theta Xi.

One of the best features is in the basement, where members of Theta Xi enjoy three 55-inch LCD televisions and stadium seating.

“It’s great,” Misichko said. “We can have a hockey game, a college basketball game and an NBA pro game on all at the same time.”

The individual fraternity chapters themselves are not the only ones affected by the new construction.

Overall, the new houses will improve the image of the fraternity chapters, said Tommy Carrato, senior in Engineering and president of the Interfraternity Council.

“I’d say that it’s probably a safe bet that more houses will be rebuilt,” Carrato said. “A lot of our fraternities are fairly old buildings, and there will be more reconstruction in the future.”