Joanna Orban
Staff Writer
Outside of a small house on 5th Avenue, there is a simple wooden sign that says ‘Phi Delta Chi.’ It’s the only clue to the fact that maybe the house once meant something. However, you wouldn’t know by looking at it.
The house looks like something you’d see in a Halloween horror movie. It’s slowly falling into disrepair with peeling paint, boarded off windows and a backyard that has turned into the neighborhood dogs’ personal litter box.
Why has it been allowed to fall into disrepair, especially being that the Phi Delta Chi Fraternity, a professional pharmacy fraternity, is still an active club on the Idaho State campus. Why was their house abandoned?
“It’s not exactly abandoned right now, it’s under consideration for major remodeling,” said the faculty advisor, James Lai.
The house is very old and in desperate need of repair. One reason why students don’t live there anymore is because of safety hazards due to the age of the house. Meetings aren’t held there anymore for the same reason.
The house was a fixture of the fraternity for several years. Several students did live there, and meetings were held there up until three or four years ago even though it was vacant.
The house is currently not owned by ISU, instead, its deed is currently held by the alumni of Phi Delta Chi and is currently not an owner-occupied house. The fraternity is made up of about fifty students, both male and female, on several of the ISU campuses. Even with a large number of students in the fraternity, the house still remains empty.
Lai has worked for ISU for the past twenty-eight years and remembers times when the house was used, and a central part of the fraternity. He also remembers former deans of the college of pharmacy doing a lot with the house.
According to the Phi Delta Chi website, the ISU chapter, which is labeled Alpha Zeta, has been on campus since 1928. ISU was still known as the University of Idaho-Southern Branch back then.
“The house has a long history, which is why people are still thinking about keeping it, but right now the debate is whether or not there’s enough funds to keep it,” Lai said.
Alumni of the College of Pharmacy are still considering the remodel.
“Some alumni were interested to see how many funds they could get together to remodel it in such a way that it could continue to be functional,” says Lai.
Given the appearance of the house, it’s been waiting a long time for the remodel, and no one knows for certain how much longer it has to wait.
