Led by Bob Martin ’87, Dave Brockway ’77 and Andy Schultz '60, the Campaign and Renovation Committee has been meeting weekly for five long years to raise funds and develop plans to renovate the chapter house.  Just when it seemed the project was lost

Led by Bob Martin ’87, Dave Brockway ’77 and Andy Schultz '60, the Campaign and Renovation Committee has been meeting weekly for five long years to raise funds and develop plans to renovate the chapter house.  Just when it seemed the project was lost and the house was put up for sale last August, a combination of divine intervention, determination and optimism turned things around, and ground breaking is now only weeks away.  Last fall, Greystone Bank, a local bank in State College (and recently acquired by Susquehanna Bank), showed interest in financing the project, and quickly moved forward in appraising the property, offered a term sheet for both construction and permanent financing, and began the due diligence, then underwriting necessary to make their final commitment.

   

A local architect, Al Drobka, has been engaged to develop the scope of work and oversee the design and build process.  He has been involved with several other recent fraternity renovations, including DKE and Beta.  As the focus turned from financing to the actual construction project at hand, several knowledgeable alumni experts stepped up to shepherd the process through the development of the scope to the final design-build bids that are currently expected from several reputable area development firms.  With over a decade of experience managing construction projects for the Maryland University system, Mike Krone ’91 has been heavily involved scrutinizing the scope work and details.  Providing additional oversight has been Ken Jacobsen ’66 who has extensive commercial real estate architectural and construction management experience including expansion projects at Miami Int’l, Broward and Palm Beach County airports.  

   

Others meeting every Sunday night by teleconference over the five years include Kevin Bostick ’89, Dave Harris ’79, Rich Konzmann ’90, Michael Rowley, Andrew Schultz Jr. ’90 and Andy Schultz Sr. ’60.

   

The bidders will be expected to provide a competitive bid for a fixed price and single contract to provide design and construction services for the work we expect to have done.  The scope of work is extensive and will include items in almost every category from flooring to plumbing to wiring, and of course, the fire sprinkler system that started it all.   We expect to award the project by June with construction completed by July 2013.