Phi Delta Theta has had a house on Alabama’s campus since 1928. The men first lived on University Boulevard where the Ruan Thai restaurant is now located on the strip. After the “old old” house, they relocated to the prime spot in front of the stadium in 1952.
Unfortunately, the house burned in the mid 1950’s, and was rebuilt in 1958. It was state of the art and located beside Bryant-Denny Stadium. But after 54 years, “The house was on its last leg, and it began to fail.” Josh Schrader, the president of Phi Delta Theta, told the Odyssey, “It was not up to date on fire code and was also too small for the chapter that was growing rapidly.”
The agreement was made to rebuild their house. In the beginning stages of the planned construction, the men desperately wanted to rebuild or renovate in the same location. In the end, they relocated to build a larger house. Since the location was a prime piece of real estate, the University was eager to reclaim it. Of course it was difficult for the brothers of Phi Delta Theta to part from the location, but they are more than proud of the new house!
After five years of planning, financing, and building, the men have relocated to their new, 25,000 square foot Phi house on University Boulevard! “The new house was purchased largely on Alumni donations, which was roughly 2.5 million," Shrader said. "The rest of the house was mortgaged.” The alumnae were eager and ecstatic to support the construction of the new house, and everyone is comfortable with the larger space.
The new Phi house has three stories for living, dining, and congregating. The two residential floors have 36 single bedrooms equipped with individual bathrooms. The second floor bedrooms are all the same size, and the third floor rooms vary in size.
The chapter room is also located on the third floor for the men to hold important meetings. The house has a formal living room that is referred to as the “Heritage Room” and an informal living room that is located beside the dining room. The house features a large dining room and an extravagant entrance. For special, social events there is a band room located in the back beside the courtyard.
Needless to say, all the incredible features of the house come with increased prices of membership. Shrader tells us that he believes the cost was about 600 dollars to live in the old house. He said, “We joke and say they paid you to live in the old house!” The cost to live in the house has increased significantly. The cost to live there currently per semester is 3,500 dollars, which is a huge difference for the members.
The cost is not the only thing that has increased since the house was built. With the increased square footage, the brotherhood has room to grow new member class sizes. The pledge classes in the recent past before the new house usually averaged out to 40 members. This year the brothers decided to extend the new member number to 50, and they happily reached their membership goal. The new fraternity house has given them great opportunity to grow and expand the brotherhood with new members and new possibilities for the chapter.
“While the old house certainly had its charm and a uniqueness about it, the new house has been awesome for instilling a great sense of pride in the members and alumnae,” said Shrader. Of course, some of the men had to adjust to the new house because they were used to the ways of the old one. As the year has gone by, the men have created new memories. The members developed a strong bond in the old house and have learned to accept the transitional journey to the new one.
“Now we have an incredible house which really lends itself to the success and history the Phi’s have at Alabama," Shrader said. "This sense of pride has manifested itself in many ways which has led to greater success for the chapter.” The men of Phi Delta Theta have shown us that it does not matter where the bond was established. Rather, what matters is building that bond so that it can endure change.
