"Unfit for habitation" -- Pi Kappa Alpha House at U of Maine

[exlurker]

See Bangor newspaper article posting for details; this appears to be a situation where concerned parents acted appropriately:

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/09/1...or-habitation/

Excerpts from ^^:

Posted Sept. 15, 2011, at 5:07 p.m.
ORONO, Maine — The 22 University of Maine students who lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha — or PIKE — fraternity house have been relocated after town officials found housing violations and safety problems that forced them to shut down the building Tuesday.
. . . On Tuesday, the Orono Fire Department went to the fraternity house after a parent called to report an issue with the furnace and request that carbon monoxide levels be checked in the building, according to Orono Code Enforcement Officer William Murphy.

The fire chief called Murphy to the scene and the pair inspected the building, which had so many violations that they decided to close the house for the sake of the students’ safety.

Students were instructed to move out by 8 o’clock that night . . .
The building has not been condemned, but has been labeled unfit for habitation, Murphy said.

Robert Dana, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, . . . said he didn’t believe the students were getting enough support or aid to fix the building from national or local PIKE alums.

. . . Parents and residents had complained to town officials in the past about the condition of the building, and the group that owns the building — a housing corporation run by local fraternity alumni — promised to fix the problems, so the town didn’t take any action.

The repairs never happened, so parents started calling again in the past few weeks, prompting the inspection, according to Murphy.

Students were well aware of the problems with the building, Dana said, but didn’t have the resources to fix the problems themselves. . . .

[belledanseur]

My cousin's a PIKE at UMaine. This is so unfortunate!

[DubaiSis]

It would have been a lot more unfortunate if a fire brought down the house, several guys in it and maybe the building next door. Hopefully someone can come up with the funds to get them back on track quickly.

[FSUZeta]

thank goodness someone took action and those young men are safe.

[Xidelt]

Wow. That makes the local housing corp. and alumni chapter look like a bunch of slumlords.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

Wow. That makes the local housing corp. and alumni chapter look like a bunch of slumlords.

Yes. I wonder if they made any attempts at starting a capital campaign for improvements.

[exlurker]

Update Oct. 20, 2011: Repairs Underway

Undergrads are looking forward to living in the house when repairs return it to "habitable" status. For a pic of some work being done, and more datails, see:

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/2...on/?ref=latest

[exlurker]

Update - December 2011: Repairs Made, Brothers Begin Moving Back

Now habitable after being repaired and passing inspection, the PIKE house is again housing several members, with more expected to move back when possible. Congratulations to the chapter and alumni.

See

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/0...es-inspection/
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/0...es-inspection/