The Visions for Greek Village team completed their first project: the construction of the Kappa Delta sorority house.
The house is a part of a 14-year project, started in 2008, to allow Greek Court to grow and make it more accessible, according to the N.C. State’s Greek Life website.
Kappa Delta members moved into the $4 million house in early October. The funding for the house came from the national chapter, which raises money from sororities selling magazines and a loan from the bank.
According to John Mountz, the director of Greek Life, the houses have been rented from the University for 50 years, and many of the Greek organizations wanted the opportunity to own their own house.
The house is “unlike anything else in our Greek Village stock,” Mountz said. Abby Van Horn, Kappa Delta president and junior in fashion textile design, agreed saying it was a huge change from their old house, which was formerly an office building.
“The duplex had a dorm-style hall and limited space,” Van Horn said. “We were always running on top of each other.”
The house has a full commercial kitchen, wireless capability, chapter meeting room, formal and informal living rooms and three floors.
Van Horn said the house helped the “flow of the function of the chapter and school life” and “strengthened our sisterhood.”
The new house has humbled the members of Kappa Delta, since they were recently added as a sorority at N.C. State.
The Kappa Delta house was the first part of the construction project to be built because they obtained their funds early. However, there are many other sororities and fraternities participating. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sigma Nu house was on Saturday, Jan. 5, and construction workers will soon begin erosion control. Three other houses, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Nu and Sigma Phi Epsilon, will be demolished as well this year.
Van Horn is excited about another house being built, and the expansion of Greek Court as a whole, because it will “bond each chapter.”
She is also looking forward to transportation to Greek Village becoming much easier.
Their goal is to implement walkways and roads to create a more effective route to and from campus.
The growth of Greek Court is a reflection of the membership over the last 10 years, according to Mountz.
“The houses are going to grow Greek Life in members,” Van Horn said. “They wouldn’t have taken on the project unless they thought it was beneficial.”
The houses will be fully owned, designed, operated and constructed by the chapters, and the land will be leased from the University. The goal is to have 20 lots for individual chapter houses, a row of Greek townhouses, a community center, an amphitheater, outdoor shelters and other amenities by 2022.
Stewart Engineering is planning the project, Sam Reynolds of Reynolds & Jewell Architects designed it in 2006 and Greek Court Redevelopment Task Force is maintaining it.
