By Steven Viera || Senior Editor
Last week, after searching for new home communities, the Kappa Sigma fraternity, Delta Rho chapter purchased a new house located at 441 College Ave. They anticipate moving out of their current house at 249 N. Charlotte St. by Fall 2016.
“Our alumni president, Dave Coyne, has been searching for a new house for around 10 years now,” said Nathan McClellan ’16, president of Kappa Sigma. “Most of the process has been waiting for the right property to become available for sale. After it had been identified around a year ago, there has been a lot of fundraising among our chapter’s alumni in order to make the purchase. Recently, we went before the City’s zoning board and they approved our plans for the property and that was the final step before the purchase went through.”
According to McClellan, many brothers are excited about the move and hope that it will help them connect with the campus.
“Well, we are kind of a relic of the old F&M off-campus student housing situation, before [College Row Apartments] and the [College Hill Apartments] had been created,” he said. “We are relatively far from campus currently so we want to get closer which I think will make involvement in the F&M community easier and decrease any issues that may emerge from students walking farther away from campus.”
Now that the sale has been finalized, McClellan indicated that some construction is necessary before brothers can move in; he noted work would be conducted to enlarge spaces in the basement and first floor. By the time brothers move in— which should be in Fall 2016, depending on construction— the house will be able to accommodate 14 residents, in contrast to the current house, which can only hold 10.
“Although we leave behind our historic house at 249 N. Charlotte St., we hope to carry its traditions into the new house,” McClellan said.
Senior Steven Viera is a senior editor. His email is sviera@fandm.edu.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the address of Kappa Sigma’s new house is 445 College Ave, not 441 College Ave. We apologize for the inconvenience.