The Ames City Council approved Tuesday the

demolition of the Sigma Chi fraternity house in order to build a

new one.

The Sigma Chi house currently has fewer

occupants than other fraternity houses at Iowa State, and for the

money students pay, it offers fewer services than other houses. The

case was made at the council meeting that the building no longer

meets the needs of students, and building a new building altogether

would be more cost-effective and attractive to future students than

renovating the existing house.

Doug Sharp, an architect for BSB Design,

explained to the council that, while the building itself isn’t

dangerous, it does have several problems, most prominently the

roof, kitchen and plumbing system. 

“We would generously call [the architecture of

the current house] ‘mid-century modern,’” Sharp said. “We tried to

design a building that would fit the lifestyle that students would

like now.”  

The current house has stood since the early

1960s, with architecture that does fit in with the other fraternity

houses that house more students and provide more services. The goal

for the new house would be to incorporate green technology, making

the house more efficient and environment-friendly, as well as

featuring new state-of-the-art technology and architecture to

appeal to students of the 21st Century.

A formal announcement for the development of

the new building is expected in the fall.