Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity will break ground on its new house early this October.

The house, which will be located at 500 S. Allen St., will be more than 11,000 square feet and will have room for 34 people, said Robert Meinen, president of the Delta Sigma Lambda Alumni Association, which represents Sigma Tau Gamma alumni.

Delta Sigma Lambda changed its name to Sigma Tau Gamma in 1956 when it applied for national membership.

"It will be undertaken in the first half of October," he said. "We will complete it in July 2005, with a move-in date of August 2005, so it will be occupied for next fall's school year."

The lot for the house was purchased in January 2001 for $178,000, Meinen said, adding that the condemned house located on the land was torn down in November 2002.

"The property at 500 South Allen Street became available and we knew it was zoned to allow a [fraternity] property to be constructed there," he said.

The fraternity has been looking for a permanent residence since 1997, when the lease expired at its Beaver Avenue location. The current Sigma Tau Gamma house is located at 243 S. Pugh St.

"In the past eight years they've lived in three different locations," Meinen said.

Matthew Smiles, Sigma Tau Gamma member, anticipated the construction of the new house.

"This is something we talked about four years ago and now it's coming together. It's pretty amazing," Smiles said.

Sigma Tau Gamma President John Nixon said he was also excited at the prospect of the new house.

"We're all looking forward to it," Nixon said. "It's a big step we're taking; it's going to be almost twice as big."

Andrew Schneider, Sigma Tau Gamma rush chair, said he thinks the fraternity's recruitment will increase this fall because of the larger house.

Schneider said the current house only has room for 16 of 25 members, which forces the additional members to live elsewhere.

"I think it will solidify the fraternity because having everyone live in one spot makes people feel closer to each other," he said.

Interfraternity Council President Andy Hackett said the construction of new fraternity houses is not common because of logistics.

"It doesn't happen terribly often because of the space needed," he said.

Meinen said the fraternity's fundraising effort for the new house exceeded the initial goal of $400,000.

"We ended up raising just over half a million dollars," he said.

He said the success of the fundraising was because of a limited liability corporation being formed, which allowed people to invest retirement funds without penalty.

"Form[ing] a limited liability corporation allowed us to receive investment money instead of donation money and it allowed us to exceed our target," Meinen said.

The process is comparable to owning stock in a company, except that the investors were limited to alumni of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, of which 116 invested, he said.

The investment by alumni took place from June 2003 through June 2004.

An exact cost for the house and its construction has yet to be determined, Meinen said.