Undergraduates at Penn State have their choice of nearly 50 fraternities, many of which have renovated or updated their houses in recent years. To keep Phi Sigma Kappa competitive we must keep our physical structure competitive. For those men who currently live at the house, and for those future generations who would like to make our house their home, we must further improve the livability and serviceability of our housing options. This is especially true at a time when our competition– both Greek and non-Greek– have been actively improving their facilities. By adding an outdoor space to the back of the house, we can compare favorably to those competitors while enhancing the house for Actives and alumni alike.
Build an Attractive, Functional Outdoor Space
At least 70% of fraternity houses at Penn State have now installed some sort of outdoor space adjacent to their property. We will make a significant upgrade to the house with the addition of a fenced-in outdoor area that includes a patio accessible from the basement, stonework, and seating areas for use by Brothers of all ages.
We will expand the basement room into the adjacent outdoor space (currently designated for parking) with appropriate flooring, tables, and lighting. This will serve several purposes:
– To address the current issue of undergraduates making use of the main floor rooms during social events instead of keeping gatherings contained in the basement. This is mainly due to a lack of space on the lower level and the absence of airflow which results in stuffiness.
– To help us preserve our main floor and avoid noise complaints from our neighbors. The addition of an outdoor social space where Active Brothers and their guests can easily expand outside on the basement level instead of having social events overflow to street-level rooms will help alleviate this.
– Additionally, to compensate for the lost parking lot, we plan to repurpose part of the grassy area beside the house to create more parking spots.
– Alumni will also enjoy the use of the new outdoor space during reunions and visits to State College.
– Evan Stearns of LandServ, Inc. will spearhead this project; Evan is the son of the late Dan Stearns, a Kappa Brother from the Class of 1973.
– Evan and his team have been in communication with the municipal government in State College about this plan, and our designs and approach have been received favorably, an important step forward as we seek to maintain strong community relations.
Review the full presentation from our architects at LandServ in Boalsburg:
