The Project Explained

The SAE Chapter house was built in 1910, 100 years ago.  It became a fraternity house in 1934 and has stood up to all of us ever since.

A group of brothers burned the mortgage in 1955.  That was their legacy.

This is ours.

The video below duplicates a presentation made at the Friday night dinner this year at Relays.

The information in the video is also summarized:

Below in text form

As a pdf of the text you can print or download

And as a pdf of the visuals you can print or download

You may make your pledge on the How to Pledge page. . .

How will my donation be used?

The total cost of the project is estimated to be from $1,375,398 to $1,656,058. The project is broken into two phases. The first phase will be the demolition of “The Barn, construction of a 25 bed apartment building, and installation of geothermal heating and cooling system for the old chapter house and the new building. The estimate of “Phase 1” costs without professional fees and furnishings is $792,120 to $905,280.

“Phase 2” includes the renovation and restoration of the main house, including converting the second floor into three two bedroom apartments. Also included in this phase will be a new kitchen and a connecting structure between the old house and new building. The estimate of “Phase 2” costs without professional fees and furnishings is $335,000 to $502,500.

The estimated cost of professional fees (architectural and engineering) is $90,000. Furnishings are projected to cost $58,278.

In the event funds pledged and donated exceed the cost of construction, a foundation will be established to fund ongoing maintenance on the complete facility. The alumni association hopes to fund the foundation in amounts ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.

It is the group’s intention to proceed with Phase 1 as soon as sufficient funds and pledges are received to accomplish that construction. Fund raising will continue to complete Phase 2 which will begin when such additional funds are donated or pledged.

These cost estimates were developed from conversations with Drake University, Grand View University and a local construction firm, Koester Construction. This contractor has extensive experience in building similar projects in the Des Moines area.

Why does the design of the new building and renovation of the main house call for “apartment” style housing?

The building group’s research determined that over the past five years colleges and universities are renovating old dormitories into apartment style housing, and new construction almost exclusively are apartment style buildings. At Drake University this has included the renovation of the Goodwin Kirk dormitories into three room suites. The university has partnered with a local real estate firm to develop three buildings with apartments accommodating one to four students. These buildings stand less than three blocks from 34^th Street.  See Drake West Village.

Another local college, Grand View University has constructed two separate student housing apartment buildings over the past six years. It has now broken ground on its third apartment building on campus. Both the Drake and Grand View projects were used to properly estimate the cost for our building addition.  See Grand View apartment living.

Iowa Delta will be competing with university housing and must build a structure consistent with the style of living on campus. Our planned addition is not a “luxury” but instead will fairly provide a living style offered to university students in on campus housing.

What is included to create a design for economic realities of student living?

The design anticipates the use of a geothermal heat pump system to provide heating and cooling to both structures. It is anticipated  that with this replacement of the hot water boiler system in the house, these costs will not greatly exceed current costs for heating the house and barn as they exist.

A fire protection system including fire sprinklers for all areas is included in the design. While certainly a safety issue, the use of this system will reduce the insurance premiums on the house in a significant amount. The new facility will also provide systems to accommodate wireless computer access to the internet.

How will my “investment” be protected?

The building group has studied the security and damage issue in student housing. New policies will be put in place to address these issues. First, all common areas of the buildings including interior hallways, meeting rooms, and building exteriors will be monitored with a security system. Grand View University reported to us that damage issues dropped approximately 70% when such measures were taken.

The house anticipates that a “house proctor” will be retained to live in the chapter house. The design provides for a separate one bedroom apartment for the proctor. This is not necessarily a return to the house mother role, but a current step to provide an in house adviser for our brothers.

The house corporation intends to require a signed lease on rooms with possible security deposits for damage to the individual apartments as well as the common areas of the house. The fund created will provide immediate repairs to damaged areas. Finally, the access to the facility will be by key card rather than mechanical locks to control unauthorized access to the buildings.

Contact Tom Logan with your questions:  Email Tom