Housing Problems for Four West Virginia U Fraternities

exlurker · #1 12-31-2007, 04:51 PM

Four fraternities at West Virginia are dealing with the need for extensive repairs, renovations, or possibly rebuilding. Old structures, changes in fire and building codes, and years of wear and tear have taken their toll, according to an article in a West Virginia newspaper:

http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/200712310088

banditone · #2 12-31-2007, 06:38 PM

Need to get their alumni involved; those are some of the saddest looking fraternity 'houses' I've ever seen.

33girl · #3 01-02-2008, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by banditone

Need to get their alumni involved; those are some of the saddest looking fraternity 'houses' I've ever seen.

Umm, I know that you may think that a fraternity house without big white columns and a chandelier isn't a fraternity house, but many of the students at WVU come from blue-collar families and don't have the money to live in or build those kinds of mansions.

These do need repairs, but they're hardly as horrible as you make them out to be.

ForeverRoses · #4 01-02-2008, 04:23 PM

I've seen some of the fraternity houses at WVU in person, and I didn't think they were that bad. From those pictures, it looks like the yardwork stopped whenever the buildings were condemned. The FIJI house didn't look that bad to me, other than needing a good lawn mowing/weeding (and the boarded up windows taken care of). It sounds like most of the problems are code issues (fire alarms, sprinklers) rather than structural where the roof is about to cave in!

GeekyPenguin · #5 01-02-2008, 04:28 PM

I think the windows are boarded up because they needed to have their windows replaced to meet the fire code.

nittanyalum · #6 01-02-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

Umm, I know that you may think that a fraternity house without big white columns and a chandelier isn't a fraternity house

LOL.

The weather there is also much different than down south so the houses show wear and tear more quickly. I'm sorry they had to be condemned (112 fire code violations? how long has it been since their last inspection, for goodness sake??), but it sounds like it may be what had to happen to get their nationals' and alumni's attention to the need to fix these houses. I can only imagine a Mom's reaction to driving up to where her "baby" lives and see boarded up windows... and don't the housing corps/nationals have RM concerns for the members they have living there? Anyway, hope they all get back up and running, this may end up being their best recruiting tool in a couple years, when their houses are up to code and spiffied up. (but psst... fellas, might want to take your letters down in the meantime, not the best advertising right next to the "condemned" signs...

)

ETA: just saw the post about the windows being boarded after the condemnations... makes sense.

Tom Earp · #7 01-02-2008, 05:20 PM

There was a fire! It burned up houses! Should they just go try to make a mess look good? They are depressed and down at the moment.

Why do some think that a College is going to pay our money for Greeks?

Go to the Alums? It will depend on the Chapters and the Alumni with the working realationship between them.

If you have never been there then some have no clue about what it takes.

ForeverRoses · #8 01-02-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

There was a fire! It burned up houses! Should they just go try to make a mess look good? They are depressed and down at the moment.

Why do some think that a College is going to pay our money for Greeks?

Go to the Alums? It will depend on the Chapters and the Alumni with the working realationship between them.

If you have never been there then some have no clue about what it takes.

Um, no. There was not a fire. The buildings were condemned by fire marshalls for not having working smoke detectors or fire alarms, having blocked exits, etc. Not because of any fire.

Tom Earp · #9 01-02-2008, 06:19 PM

Maybe just a wish and an excuse on my part!

They let the houses go the hell, then they pay for it!

madmax · #10 01-03-2008, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Maybe just a wish and an excuse on my part!

They let the houses go the hell, then they pay for it!

They already did pay for it with rent. Routine maintenace is a landlords responsibility. These houses were not trashed. They got old. Alumni associations that own houses should set aside a percentage of the rent each semester for long term maintenance. Most do not.

Tom Earp · #11 01-03-2008, 07:45 PM

I am not sure you are correct? They do not according to the article say they are renting the houses? If they are, maybe it is from their house corporation and not a private investor.

If it was by a land lord owner, then why would they be trying to raise so much money for renovations?

DeltAlum · #12 01-03-2008, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmax

They already did pay for it with rent. Routine maintenace is a landlords responsibility. These houses were not trashed. They got old. Alumni associations that own houses should set aside a percentage of the rent each semester for long term maintenance. Most do not.

Not necessarily. It's not unusual for a chapter to trash a house if that's there inclination.

I'm not even sure we have a chapter at WVU anymore, but they showed some video at one of our international conferences a few years ago of the Delt house there and it was unbelievable. Broken pipes, filth on the floors, holes in the walls, broken windows, etc.

It was sad.

We had the same situation at Colorado within six months after local alumni raised $1.5 million to refurbish.

We will probably never recolonize there because it was the third time the charter was revoked.