This article has been corrected since it was first published.
Construction began this week on Pi Kappa Alpha’s fraternity house after more than four years of negotiation, fraternity officials said.
A private contractor from Minnesota will gut the house during the next five months to make it livable in time for next year, said Pike President Brandon Conrad, a Weinberg junior.
The entire process, to occur in two phases, will cost $800,000. On Monday, the contractors began removing broken lights, drywall and asbestos. In the rest of phase one, a new roof will be installed over Spring Break, and in the summer, the inside will be redone.
The Pike house is on Northwestern’s North Row, located on Lincoln Avenue, the oldest residences on the Evanston Campus. Alpha Epsilon Pi, Theta Chi and Chi Phi comprise the rest of North Row. All four fraternities will have their roofs removed during the current construction.
Previously, NU officials have discussed tearing down North Row because of its antiquated condition, but this week’s work on Pike largely puts an end to that speculation.
Pike, which returned to NU in 2001 after voluntarily disbanding in 1999 because of low membership, will not be affected by the lease negotiation process now going on between the university and Greek houses. The fraternity’s current lease expires in 2036.
Tyler Miller, Pike’s house manager, said the house is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 1 so 26 members can move in on Sept. 1.
"A good portion has to be done over Spring Break and summer as to not disturb the houses next door," Miller said.
Phase two has not yet been approved by NU, Miller said, but would include more aesthetic improvements to the house’s exterior, including southern plantation-style pillars and a patio.
The Pike house has not been occupied since 1997 and needed to be renovated, said Dan Hohmeier, manager for university construction projects and the liaison between the contractor and NU. NU is overseeing the project.
"It was run-down because it was not taken care of for a few years. (There were) issues of a few things falling apart, (like) a lot of furniture and carpet," he said.
The city of Evanston mandated that Pike update the building by adding sprinklers, handicap access and correct window sizes, said Chris Bartman, senior director of real estate for Pike’s national headquarters in Memphis, Tenn.
The construction process began after years-long disputes over the lease stipulations were recently resolved between the university and the Gamma Rho Housing Corporation, a group of volunteer Pike alumni who hold the lease of 566 Lincoln Ave.
The organization would not concede the lease and eventually the university could no longer ignore it, Conrad said.
"They might have thought we were going to fold and give them our lease, but when they saw the strengths in our chapter they couldn’t side-step the issue," Conrad said. "They had to make a decision on the property."
The Gamma Rho Housing Corporation contracted Bartman to "push forward" the housing project from discussion to construction, he said.
The corporation owns the house and has the right to improve the property. NU owns the land and can approve changes.
Conrad said the university was hesitant to reinstate the lease because they were skeptical of Pike’s staying power, Conrad said.
"I don’t know if the university had confidence in our ability to survive without a house, but once they saw us at 70 members having a successful rush, successful scholarship, they saw we were here to stay," Conrad said.
The lease’s length gives Pike security, said president-elect Dan Solera, a Weinberg junior.
"Obviously it gives us some permanence and it’s kind of comforting," Solera said. "I know when I come back it will always be that house, and there will always be brothers
inside."
Reach Ashima Singal at [email protected].
