Front of Sigma Nu house
On Friday, January 3rd, 2014, the brothers of the Beta Tau chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity at North Carolina State University were presented with a huge gift (and an awesome responsibility) in the form of a new $4.2 million fraternity house. A video of house features can be viewed HERE.
Dignitaries, alumni and project partners gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony. See some of the Dedication Ceremony Highlights video HERE.
The guys moved in the following day, just before the start of the Spring semester.
Schematic rendering
Gontram Architecture was there from conception to delivery. What started as a quick sketch in 2007 (to see if fundraising was viable) turned into a Ground Breaking Ceremony in 2009. Some very real financing issues delayed the project for some time, but hard work continued in the background until building permits were obtained in 2012. The fraternity finally realized their dream 6-1/2 years after the journey began.
Front of Sigma Nu house
The original design sketched out in 2007 was refined, pushed, prodded, and poked, but the concept is essentially unchanged.
- Oversized porch columns reflect a strong and stable structure and foundation – the brothers currently in the house as well as the thousands of alumni that have come before them.
- A roof lantern provides a beacon for alumni. It’s with strong alumni support and participation that fraternities can thrive.
- As residents enter the house, the roof lantern and grand lobby force eyes skyward, reminding them to have lofty goals and never settle for complacency.
Alumni Library
To the credit of its House Corporation president, Howard Pickett and many generous Sigma Nu alumni (such as Randall Ward), those architectural elements were never sacrificed for budget reasons, though they very easily could have been as money got tight.
On January 3rd, a fraternity’s dream was realized. The alumni of the Beta Tau chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity stepped up big time, and handed the keys of the house (a house as nice as any on the East coast) to the active brothers of the chapter.
Dining Room
Now, it is up to all that come after to maintain this level of excellence, and for other fraternities to try to match it – no small feat.
For more information on the project, please check out our Website.
Entry Vestibule
