In the fall of 2013, women in Kappa Alpha Theta moved into the house on 15th Avenue and Kincaid Street. While the excitement to live with sisters built, so did the foundation for the K14 apartment complex next door.
For some sisters, the noise that came along with that construction was bothersome considering their windows face the construction site.
Sophomore Gioia Jensen, an advertising major, currently lives in the house. @@ name checked @@
“It used to be like you would wake up to it and it was loud and the ground was shaking,” Jensen said.
Recently, the foundation for the complex was finished, the drilling stopped and new sounds arose as the workers began constructing the actual building.
“Now it’s just loud, but it’s gotten so much better,” Jensen said. “They have gotten a lot more respectful and have stopped drilling before seven in the morning for the most part.”
While drilling before 7 a.m. seems like an inconvenience, it is more than just that. According to Eugene Zoning Maps, the location for this new complex is part of zone R-4, a high-density residential zone. This restricts any construction from beginning before 7 a.m.
Junior Madison Cole, Kappa Alpha Theta’s previous facility director, stepped up and took the initiative to make a change. @@name checked@@
“This term I personally filed a complaint to the city about their noise,” Cole said. “They started construction close to five or six in the morning sometimes.”
The construction site has not heard anything about the complaint, however.
“If there are any noise complaints from the city, they would go to our project manager, but if he was to get anything he would let us know,” Roy Arehart, the site general foreman for K14, said. “I’m in no way trying to deny that we have had a complaint, it’s just I personally haven’t heard anything.”
Arehart admits that they have started construction before the legal time.
“There are days few and far between where we do need to start early for a big concrete pour or something because of the amount of traffic,” Arehart said. “We have to start early, otherwise we make a bigger mess with not just a few people being disturbed — it would be hundreds of people with the traffic stalling nightmare.”
Cole agrees the noise has become more bearable recently. “The amount of noise has been about the same, it’s just not as much drilling,” she said. “It’s more of a constant humming and trucks backing up and stuff.”
Homework also may be a concern that comes with the noise, but according to Cole, it has not been much of an issue. “As long as the windows are closed, it’s kind of muted. I just play music in my room and kind of zone it out,” she explained. “The construction is also usually done by about five, so in the evening, homework isn’t a problem.”
According to the women, while the construction may be frustrating at times, it hasn’t affected anything other than sleep.
“I mean, it hasn’t affected anything like sisterhood or the things that most people get out of living in,” Cole said. “It’s just a terrible year to live in the house as far as wanting to get a lot of sleep or peace.”