Spring Break
Terry to move in to Greek houses
Frats move to River Road
JENNIFER SINKOE
Issue date: 6/25/09 Section: News
The prime real estate at the corner of Baxter and Lumpkin streets will undergo several changes until it becomes the new home of the Terry College of Business.
"We have some schematic layouts drawn, just enough to define the size and the idea," said Danny Sniff, associate vice president for facilities planning.
The property, which formerly housed the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, will become home to a 350,000-square-foot complex for Terry College. But Sniff said many of the details have yet to be defined.
And until funds are available for the new Terry to be built, the fraternity houses for Phi Delta Theta and Pi Kappa Alpha on Lumpkin Street will be demolished to make way for a parking lot.
The lot will park about 200 cars and will be complete by the middle of the 2009 fall semester, said Sniff.
The fraternities have relocate to Greek Park, located on River Road, which is scheduled to open Aug. 1 for the fall semester.
"They're on schedule and we expect to turn the keys over to the fraternities at the beginning of August," said Tom Jackson, vice president for Public Affairs.
The University agreed to pay for the construction and development of the houses with the expectation that funds will be recovered over time from lease payments, said Eric Atkinson, assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs. The project has been financed through the UGA Real Estate Foundation.
The University will own the houses and lease them to each fraternity housing corporation. Maintenance and upkeep of the houses will be provided by University Housing.
Wilson and Dawson Architects and the Choate Construction Company are responsible for construction of the houses in Greek Park.
"The University has worked closely with both Wilson and Dawson Architects and Choate Construction Company on the four new houses. This has been a very positive and productive relationship," Atkinson said.
The relocated fraternities, Tau Epsilon Phi, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Nu , signed 30-year leases for the properties.
Tau Epsilon Phi's history on Baxter and Lumpkin
One particularly historic fraternity to leave behind its house of 52 years is Tau Epsilon Phi.
According to the fraternity's Web site, Tau Epsilon Phi began in 1919 as the University's first all-inclusive Jewish fraternity. At the start of the organization, the chapter included University students as well as students from Georgia Tech, who later received their own chapter.
Growing from very few members to over 100, Tau Epsilon Phi has been located in its house on Baxter Street since 1957.
In 2005, the fraternity experienced a severe setback. According to University Police, arson occurred at the house on the morning of Dec. 3, damaging much of the house. No residents were injured, but 31 students were left homeless due to the fire.
"It was awful," remembered senior Teagan Smith, who was visiting her boyfriend at the house the night of the fire. "We woke up to the fire and smoke alarms."
She said she saw flames shooting out of the kitchen and up into the party room on the second floor.
"The house was pretty much fully engulfed when we got out," she said.
Smith and 31 other survivors waited in the cold in their pajamas or boxers for the fire trucks to arrive, she said.
"But I am one of 32 counts of attempted murder if they find who did it," she said.
The new residence is planned to house 20 fraternity brothers. It will include a kitchen, recreation room, and possibly study rooms and a chapter meeting room. The house will also have Internet, cable, security systems and fire suppression systems.
"The new house will have the latest and greatest fire safety equipment to ensure we will not run into any trouble like that again," said Lenny Bluestein, rising junior and acting Fire Marshall at Tau Epsilon Phi.
"The house looks amazing and will save us on maintenance costs in the future," Bluestein said. "The cons are giving up that incredible location on Baxter and Lumpkin and finding parking."
Second year fraternity member Eric Ciavardini said it would be a privilege to move to the new house, but that "It's going to be bittersweet moving to the new house because there is so much history in our old house."
"We have some schematic layouts drawn, just enough to define the size and the idea," said Danny Sniff, associate vice president for facilities planning.
The property, which formerly housed the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, will become home to a 350,000-square-foot complex for Terry College. But Sniff said many of the details have yet to be defined.
And until funds are available for the new Terry to be built, the fraternity houses for Phi Delta Theta and Pi Kappa Alpha on Lumpkin Street will be demolished to make way for a parking lot.
The lot will park about 200 cars and will be complete by the middle of the 2009 fall semester, said Sniff.
The fraternities have relocate to Greek Park, located on River Road, which is scheduled to open Aug. 1 for the fall semester.
"They're on schedule and we expect to turn the keys over to the fraternities at the beginning of August," said Tom Jackson, vice president for Public Affairs.
The University agreed to pay for the construction and development of the houses with the expectation that funds will be recovered over time from lease payments, said Eric Atkinson, assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs. The project has been financed through the UGA Real Estate Foundation.
The University will own the houses and lease them to each fraternity housing corporation. Maintenance and upkeep of the houses will be provided by University Housing.
Wilson and Dawson Architects and the Choate Construction Company are responsible for construction of the houses in Greek Park.
"The University has worked closely with both Wilson and Dawson Architects and Choate Construction Company on the four new houses. This has been a very positive and productive relationship," Atkinson said.
The relocated fraternities, Tau Epsilon Phi, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Nu , signed 30-year leases for the properties.
Tau Epsilon Phi's history on Baxter and Lumpkin
One particularly historic fraternity to leave behind its house of 52 years is Tau Epsilon Phi.
According to the fraternity's Web site, Tau Epsilon Phi began in 1919 as the University's first all-inclusive Jewish fraternity. At the start of the organization, the chapter included University students as well as students from Georgia Tech, who later received their own chapter.
Growing from very few members to over 100, Tau Epsilon Phi has been located in its house on Baxter Street since 1957.
In 2005, the fraternity experienced a severe setback. According to University Police, arson occurred at the house on the morning of Dec. 3, damaging much of the house. No residents were injured, but 31 students were left homeless due to the fire.
"It was awful," remembered senior Teagan Smith, who was visiting her boyfriend at the house the night of the fire. "We woke up to the fire and smoke alarms."
She said she saw flames shooting out of the kitchen and up into the party room on the second floor.
"The house was pretty much fully engulfed when we got out," she said.
Smith and 31 other survivors waited in the cold in their pajamas or boxers for the fire trucks to arrive, she said.
"But I am one of 32 counts of attempted murder if they find who did it," she said.
The new residence is planned to house 20 fraternity brothers. It will include a kitchen, recreation room, and possibly study rooms and a chapter meeting room. The house will also have Internet, cable, security systems and fire suppression systems.
"The new house will have the latest and greatest fire safety equipment to ensure we will not run into any trouble like that again," said Lenny Bluestein, rising junior and acting Fire Marshall at Tau Epsilon Phi.
"The house looks amazing and will save us on maintenance costs in the future," Bluestein said. "The cons are giving up that incredible location on Baxter and Lumpkin and finding parking."
Second year fraternity member Eric Ciavardini said it would be a privilege to move to the new house, but that "It's going to be bittersweet moving to the new house because there is so much history in our old house."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 3
robert
posted 6/25/09 @ 9:12 AM EST
booooo. parking lots instead of historic houses? give me a break. go aboout 100 yards up baxter and tear down those projects! public housing in that part of athens is an eyesore and ludicrous misuse of prime real estate. (Continued…)
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