by Tom Chambers
Staff Writer
Sigma Alpha Epsilon has lost its fraternity house on Garey Street because of foundational problems. “We were trying to stave it off for as long as we could but things just got too bad,” said President Gregg Hemenover.
SAE brought some of the house’s problems to the owner’s attention for repairs. The owner then brought in a contractor to survey the damage. The major damage included the floor of an upstairs room on it’s way to caving in and the house’s foundation sinking.
He estimated costs to fix the house were more than $100,000. After the cost assessment, the owner decided that she would sell the house to a long time interest, Casa Colina. SAE tried to combat this by having the house declared a historical landmark, but were unsuccessful.
SAE had occupied the house on Garey since 1986. They knew that Casa Colina had an interest in the land for more than five years. Casa Colina owns much of the land around the house and plans to expand their nursing home on the property after the house is torn down.
Hemenover looks at the positive side of the matter. “Losing the house has strengthened our chapter unity. It’s been nice to have a place for the fraternity and school to gather, but I think we have been away from campus for too long,” he said. SAE now meets regularly on campus and is looking for another house to home the chapter.
