Each fall, members of the University’s Theta Chi fraternity show potential brothers around their three-story house on 1125 E. 19th Ave. during rush week. This year, however, members are showing off a damaged home.
The house is undergoing repairs this fall because of a summer fire that destroyed its top two floors, making it unlivable for the majority of the fraternity members.
“It’s kind of a strange situation,” chapter President Dustin Funes said.
Deputy Fire Marshall Mark Thompson, who was the lead investigator of the fire, concluded in August that a plastic can, located on the sun deck and used to extinguish cigarettes, caught fire and ignited the wall.
Members of the fraternity, however, rejected that conclusion, saying they believed the fire was electrical in nature and that nobody in the house smoked.
Much of the house needs remodeling because of extensive smoke and water damage. Parts of the house are also being upgraded, and a new wing is being added where the outdoor porch once was. Insurance from the fire is covering $600,000 in damage, while Theta Chi alumni are paying for up to $100,000 in additional upgrades to the house, Funes said. Part of that cost will pay for a new sprinkler system required by the University, which must be added to all greek houses by fall 2004.
In the meantime, about 20 members are living in the Phoenix Inn Suites where they are sharing 10 rooms. Hotel expenses are covered by the insurance, but members still have to pay rent and utilities for the house.
Theta Chi member Jay Gentzkow, who holds the house scholarship and personal relations chairs, said living at the hotel has been a great experience. He said the hotel has been supportive and helpful under the circumstances, offering the members lower rates, free laundry service and free breakfast among other things.
Funes said other members live off campus and four members still live in the house and pay reduced rates.
Mike Wyant, alumni treasurer of the Theta Chi House Corporation, said the fraternity likes to have someone live in the house for security purposes.
Funes said even though the members are split up, they still remain united as a fraternity.
“We haven’t lost touch with one another, but it hasn’t been easy either,” he said.
He said it has been difficult keeping up with the daily activities they usually hold in the house, but they still try to have barbecues and other events as regularly as possible. The members also visit the house daily for catered meals, which will be available until they move back Nov. 1. They continue to hold chapter meetings at the house.
Funes said the Phoenix Inn has a much different atmosphere than the members are accustomed to, and he said he feels a little closed off from his friends.
“It’s just not as much openness as usual,” he said, adding that he’s used to being able to walk into other members’ unlocked rooms in the house to chat any time, but now he has to knock on hotel room doors. Since many of the members are grouped together in the hotel, however, they are not as spread out as they could have been if they had chosen to stay in residence halls on campus, Funes said.
“That’s really kind of kept our unity together,” he said. “We didn’t want to split people up like that.”
Still, recruitment for the fraternity has been more of a challenge this year, Funes said. The house’s current state did not appeal to newly recruited freshmen this summer, and many signed year-long leases in the residence halls.
“It does make it tough,” he said. “We like to have freshmen move in.”
He added that members have worked hard to exemplify a sense of brotherhood, and that he expects to recruit about 20 new members, which would be more than usual.
Gentzkow said that although it has been difficult showing potential members around the house, he thinks they all realize how nice it will look when the construction is completed in January.
“While it may seem like a hassle, it’s all worth it,” he said.