A reminder, as if one were needed, that safety, code compliance, and basic sanitation are important for chapters with houses and for alumni/ae boards / corporations that own houses. A Boulder news source reports in an online Wednesday, June 11, 2008 article:
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008...-frat-vacated/
Excerpts:
A fraternity house that was shut down by the city last week for numerous health and safety violations -- including loose garbage, overflowing toilets and inoperable smoke detectors -- will remain closed until it is brought into compliance with city code.
Brett Weideman, code enforcement supervisor for the city of Boulder, said Tuesday that there were still outstanding sanitary and safety issues inside the Pi Kappa Alpha house and that it could be 30 days or more before residents can move back in.
Seven undergraduate men are living there through the summer . . . .
Most of them are staying with friends . . . .
The house . . . was shut down by Boulder's fire marshal Friday after a technician fixing the house's fire alarm reported seeing abhorrent conditions inside.
Weideman said inspectors found inoperable toilets with feces overflowing onto the floor, a strong smell of urine and vomit throughout the hallways, broken glass and holes punched into the walls.
He also said many of the smoke alarms throughout the house weren't working, debris and various objects were blocking exits and that there were "electrical issues" that needed to be addressed.
"I would say that it is in bad enough condition that it's going to need substantial repairs to get it up to code," Weideman said. "They were living in substandard conditions."
The city immediately declared the house uninhabitable and ordered it vacated. It's allowing "limited entry" to residents, which gives them a chance to go in and gather belongings but not to sleep or reside there.
Fire Marshal Dave Lowrey said fire inspectors found 48 violations in 13 sections of the fire code.
Lowrey, who described the Pike House as "dilapidated," said the building has been "one of the major problem houses" on University Hill.
"It's been years and years and years of abuse and hard living," he said. "It's in a state of disrepair."
Caldwell Sullivan, manager of property management company FourStar Realty, said the Pike House passed inspection by his company and the Boulder Fire Department in early May.
. . . The house isn't in worse condition than a lot of other fraternity houses on the Hill, he said. . . .
A shorter version of the story, from the Associated Press, is on a different news source's site:
http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-cu-frat...,6999836.story
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