Former Kappa Sigma house to undergo renovations

The former Kappa Sigma house, located in Frat Circle between Phi Kappa Tau and the MACE Club, is currently undergoing renovations this semester.

Student Life felt it would be more beneficial for housing students than as a theater storage facility, which it was turned into after the fraternity Kappa Sigma left campus.

Several meetings regarding the Kappa Sigma house occurred during the 2009 fall semester by Physical Plant, Student Life, and the administration to discuss future plans for the house and renovation ideas.

The Muskingum University Board of Trustees made a final decision in October that the house would be refurbished and made fit for living conditions in the 2010 spring semester.

However, with delays in renovation, the house will officially open to students in August for the 2010 fall semester.

Renovation work began during the week of Jan. 25 and is expected to last an estimated 90 days.

The house is made up of two floors with 16 double rooms (eight dorm rooms per floor), which will accommodate a total of 32 residents. One floor will be for women and the other floor will be for men.

“We’re excited about it. We don’t have large houses where men and women live together,” said Associate Dean of Students Susan Hoglund.

Many aspects of the house are being worked on, including modernizing the bathrooms and retreading the heating and air conditioning.

Additional updates will include new interior paint, new doors all around the house, new windows, a new boiler for hot water, new vinyl flooring, new furniture, and even a new wireless internet connection inside the house.

“We’re going to make it a wireless house,” said Vice President for Business and Finance, Jim Wilson. “It should be really nice.”

Various sections of the house will be open to students and other sections will have blocked access.

The common room and dining room will remain accessible as well as the sliding doors which open up to the deck, but the President Suite and kitchen will be closed.

Students living in the Kappa Sigma house will be asked to use the dining halls in Thomas and Patton Hall.

“The bulk of the work will be in the resident rooms,” said Wilson. The resident rooms are about the size of the rooms in Thomas.

The appearance is not the only thing changing on the building.

The name of the house will be altered from Kappa Sigma to its new name, Circle 240. This new name is combined from the house being located in Frat Circle and 240 is the house’s address number.

The selection process for the rooms will be the same drawing system as it is for the dorms and only juniors and seniors will be allowed to live in the house.

“The selection of the rooms in the house will be the same as the regular residence halls,” said Director of Residence Life and Judicial Affairs Kerry Nelson. “There will be an R.A. in the house, and the selection process will be part of the regular R.A. selection process, which is going on now.”

Lincoln Construction, located in Columbus, Ohio, was chosen to renovate and produce the appropriate construction to the building.

Lincoln Construction is already familiar with the campus staff and Physical Plant, having done work on Muskingum’s athletic facilities, the Walter K. Chess Center, the columbarium, and currently, Otto and Fran Walter Hall.

While the administration found the decision to turn the Kappa Sigma house into upperclassmen housing necessary, there is still the theater department to consider.

When Johnson Hall was torn down last winter, the theater department was forced to move their storage temporarily into the Kappa Sigma house.

With these facilities taken from them, they’ve been faced with major difficulties.

From Jan. 19 to Jan. 22, moving trucks hauled the theater’s equipment to other facilities. Furniture, props and costumes were taken to a storage facility in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where they will be kept in climate controlled storage.

Other equipment, such as platforms, was placed in a storage bin at Shegogg’s I.G.A.

“It’s hugely inconvenient because now we have to travel west to get stuff,” said Chair of Speech Communication and Theatre Department Ron Lauck.

The Kappa Sigma house (Circle 240) will remain a permanent housing development for students on campus until the Kappa Sigmas return to Muskingum University.

If members of Kappa Sigma do wish to return, Student Life is in full support of that choice and the former Kappa Sigma house would then be turned back over to them.