News

PIKE brothers set for return to house

16 of 22 ousted expected back

Posted on Nov. 29, 2011, at 2:51 p.m.

Brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) can return home.

An inspection Tuesday morning by Orono and state officials, including the Office of the State Fire Marshal, found the myriad of code violations that led to the fraternity house being deemed unfit for habitation in September had been fixed.

The home’s 22 residents, all brothers of the fraternity, were forced to move — some chose on-campus housing and others moved into apartments.

PIKE President John Dufour said 16 brothers are ready to move back into the house. The others have signed leases elsewhere.

“There are people who are probably sick of their girlfriends, let’s put it that way,” Dufour said. “They’re just ready to get back in.”

He said those brothers should be able to move in Tuesday evening, pending signing individual living contracts with the PIKA Housing Corporation of Maine, an alumni group that manages the building, funding upkeep with the flat-rate rent paid by those living there.

The September inspection revealed emergency signs and lights that weren’t in working order, blocked exits and electrical problems, among other issues.

The Maine Campus toured the house in October, when the housing corporation was making repairs.

“All of the electrical issues have been corrected and everything identified as a concern by the fire marshal has been addressed,” said Bill Murphy, Orono’s code enforcement officer.

Murphy said further inspections of the house by state electrical inspector Kern Butler found more issues, including open wires in electrical boxes and boxes not properly grounded.

“Once he’s there, he’s checking to see if everything’s OK,” Murphy said. “He found many single violations, and in the aggregate, he had to keep with the no occupancy.”

Orono fire marshal Henry Vaughn said concerns of his, including a fire alarm system that didn’t notify emergency personnel due to an non-operational phone line, clutter and lighting in stairwells that was often shut off, were fixed early on.

Dufour called the house’s closing a “learning experience,” saying when he took over as president, communication with the housing corporation deteriorated.

“You can’t really put that responsibility on the chapter,” he said. “You can’t blame a bunch of kids who were trying to live somewhere.”

The relationship has improved over the past two-and-a-half months, he said.

“I’m not saying it had to go this far, but that’s what happened,” Dufour said. “It’s over now.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, 2:51 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.