CORRECTION APPENDED: An earlier version of this article misidentified the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house.
- SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Members of the Delta Upsilon fraternity aren’t living the typical Greek life this year. In May, the brothers were left homeless when a fire tore through their campus house, located at the corner of Hill Street and Olivia Avenue.
Now, rather than living in one house, the brothers are staying in three smaller houses on the same street.
John Markiewicz, president of the fraternity’s alumni association that owns the house, said the alumni board is currently rebuilding the home and hopes to move the brothers back into the house next fall.
The Ann Arbor Historical Commission last week approved the alumni board’s plans to restore the 105-year-old house, the University’s oldest existing Greek residence.
The house will “look identical to the way it looked before,” Markiewicz said.
As a result of the fire, the fraternity had to find alternative sites for many of their fall rush activities.
LSA junior Christian Stoffan, Delta Upsilon’s vice president of recruitment, said the lack of house initially put the fraternity in a tough spot, but eventually became a positive situation.
“We still had great rush events, it’s just a little different not having a large house,” said Stoffan, adding that the fraternity held activities in places like Nichols Arboretum and at the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority house. “We got to know the pledges a lot better than we would have if it was a bigger situation.”
Stoffan said the smaller events attracted pledges that considered brotherhood more of a priority than the actual house.
“They weren’t looking for the big frat house,” he said. “They really got a chance to meet us as individuals.”
Markiewicz said the alumni board is also in talks with Delta Upsilon’s insurance company, which will pay for the renovations.
“We want to make sure that we can get the funding to do what the historical commission would like to do and what the board of directors would like see as well,” he said.
Markiewicz, who declined to discuss the cost of the project, said the board wants to retain the house’s historical character by fully restoring the first floor and the outside.
He said the plan is to have the house completed by next fall, but the alumni board is looking into housing for next year in case the house isn’t done until the winter.