Quote:
Originally posted by OUKate
AlphaSigOU, which house on Boyd is the old Gamma Phi house? Is it the one almost on the corner of Boyd and Elm, or the white one that used to be next to it?
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The old Gamma Phi house was at 601 W. Boyd, at the corner of College and Elm. It was condemned and demolished in 1974 and replaced by a new house which was further set back on the property, which gave it a new address, 500 S. College. (One of our former houses once stood where the Baptist Student Union is today.)
The new Alpha Sig house was revolutionary at the time because it was designed as an apartment complex (each room had a kitchen and separate bedroom); this allowed the alumni association to lease out unused apartments to non-members. Of course, this gave rise to the unflattering nickname of 'apartment dwellers'.
When the OU School of Music was being built, OU wanted to buy the property for possible further expansion; the alum association countered with an offer for a spot down in South Greek (where the KA house is -- it was an empty lot back when I was an undergrad). OU said no. (All the houses on South Greek are on University-owned land, but the houses belong to the fraternitoes and sororities.)
When our chapter closed in 1986, the alumni association sold the house and land to OU; the building was demolished and it is now just open space. The proceeds from the sale of the house were used to purchase the Phi Delta Theta 'ski lodge' at 1600 College (at the time, Phi Delt was inactive, and Sigma Tau Gamma recently vacated it when they lost their charter); when Alpha Sigma Phi folded in 2000, the house went back to the Phi Delts.
Oh yes... remember the Alpha Gam house well -- I was a houseboy there briefly back when I was an undergrad.
