Sigma Chi May Lose House (but not charter) - CSU

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Sigma Chi may lose house

'Ancient' furnace blow leaves fraternity looking for new home
J. David McSwane
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Katie Stevens

The Sigma Chi fraternity house stands raggedly at 1504 Remington on Thursday, January 31, 2008. The members of the house have received news that they may be forced to move to the Academic Village.

Members of CSU's Sigma Chi fraternity could be forced to move out of their house after an "ancient" heating furnace stopped working.

"This is definitely disappointing for us," said Scott Leturno, Sigma Chi president. "It's going to be a tough situation for a fraternity to be without a central location."

The house, at 1504 Remington Street, was purchased last summer by the CSU Foundation, a non-profit organization that manages donations for the university, and was already in poor condition, Leturno said.

When the fraternity reported the problem Tuesday afternoon, the Foundation offered to pay for the 11 members to stay at a motel, said Dell Rae Moellenberg, a university spokesperson.

But the fraternity chose to remain in the un-heated house, using space heaters, while the university scrambles to find a place for them to live.

"We're students; we need our computers to function," Leturno said. "We can't live in a motel."

While Sigma Chi faces displacement from the house Leturno admits "was never a permanent house," the members and the university are working together to find housing.

"They're developing a plan for a more permanent accommodation," Moellenberg said. "(The CSU Foundation is) definitely trying to figure out how to accommodate those students for the rest of the semester … and the university real estate office is working with them, checking in on an hourly basis."

And CSU maintenance workers are investigating repairing or replacing the furnace, she added, which is more than 50 years old.

"We're working together," Leturno said. "They're not just throwing us out."

Ram's Village is one of several places the university has contacted to accommodate the fraternity.

Mark Watts, Ram's Village property manager, said he got a call Thursday morning from the university.

"We do have some apartments available for them," Watts said. "Without heat, that's pretty quick, but we will try to help where we can."

A four-room apartment at Ram's village would cost each member $410 a month, according to the company's Web site.

The house, built in 1924, is leased to Sigma Chi members on a month-to-month basis, and rent ranges from $425-$450 a month, Moellenberg said.