Phi Sigma Kappa President John Eppensteiner and other fraternity members might have to say farewell to their 79-year-old fraternity house.
Eppensteiner's fraternity is one of a few that are finding it difficult to foot the bill for new sprinkler systems that must be installed by Sept. 1, 2008, to comply with borough codes.
"The cost of renovating the entire house and retrofitting it with sprinklers would be too much," Eppensteiner said. "It would be more cost effective to try and raise money to build a new house."
Phi Sigma Kappa, 501 S. Allen St., is struggling with the costs of sprinkler installation and has strongly considered building a house from scratch to allow for required sprinklers. "Our house was built in 1926, so it's not feasible to try and put sprinklers in it now," Eppensteiner said. "We're probably going to start a capital fundraising campaign in 2006, ask alumni for contributions and hopefully start building by 2007."
Centre Region Code Administration Chief Inspector David Felice said the fraternities were given five years to install the systems, and fraternity houses in code violation beyond that date would be shut down.
Interfraternity Council (IFC) President Brian Bertges said fraternities have begun taking out loans and raising money to cover costs, which could range from $50,000 to $100,000.
Bertges said he has no reason to believe that each fraternity doesn't have the means to adapt to the mandate.
"I hope all the fraternities will be able to comply because no fraternities said they needed help," Bertges said. "Alumni usually own fraternity houses, so they have a lot invested in the houses."
Fraternity Purchasing Association Executive Director Jay Sletson said 29 fraternity houses still need the systems installed and between 13 and 15 houses already have them.
Sletson said the costs vary depending on the square footage of the house, the layout of the property and whether the piping runs inside or outside the walls.
"A lot of the properties are over 100 years old and beautiful, so having the sprinkler piping run outside the walls is not attractive," Sletson said. "The alumni are all in favor of sprinklers, but the challenge is going to be in finding ways to support it economically."
A fact sheet compiled by the Center for Campus Fire Safety said 75 students died nationwide in fires since 2000, and 75 percent of student deaths are in off-campus housing. Of those, 11 percent were in fraternity and sorority houses.
The fire in a student's residence last April that took the life of Penn State student Christopher Raspanti is one such tragedy sparking calls for change in the region's property maintenance system.
Sletson said the fraternities have three summers left to meet the requirements, and there are a limited number of contractors who have the time and ability to work on the fraternity houses.
"It is going to be a challenge because fraternities compete in the marketplace, and contracting firms have a lot of people paying a lot of money for their services," Sletson said.
Delta Tau Delta fraternity, 429 E. Hamilton Ave., had its sprinkler system installed in January 1980 after a house fire. Delta Tau Delta President Brad Fitzpatrick said making sprinkler systems mandatory in fraternity houses carries expensive maintenance costs, but it is worth the charges.
"It's a really great thing to do for our safety," he said. "Sprinklers should be put into all houses because there is potential for so much bad to happen."
State College Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said many other colleges have developed similar fire safety procedures, so it is important for Penn State to comply with the sprinkler mandate. "I think that anything we can do to protect the living conditions in fraternities' houses is a positive step toward better safety measures," he said.
