Missoula city firefighter and landlord Brad Roe recently purchased the house, which had been on the market since the fraternity shut down in 2004, after its membership dwindled to just four University of Montana students.
Roe purchased the rundown 17-bedroom, four-bathroom house for about $400,000 six months ago, believing he would do a major remodel.
“It became clear this house was beyond the point of no return,” Roe said. “The pipes - when we turned on the water to check them out, we could hear water running behind the walls.
“And then when we fixed what we thought was the problem, water began dripping from the ceiling.”
Roe, who has been embroiled in a boundary-line relocation controversy over his home at 636 Evans Ave., said he's learned a lot about the permitting process and has been careful to go above and beyond the necessary steps to make sure this project is above reproach.
His new property - at the corner of University Avenue and Helen - covers 3 1/2 city lots, which he has since changed to two conforming city lots, each measuring 90 feet by 65 feet.
The demolition is expected to be completed this week, and over the next year, two homes will be built on the property: one home will face University Avenue and the other will face Helen.
The architecture of both homes will be Craftsman style - inspired by, yet quite different from one another, and in keeping with the other grand homes in the neighborhood, Roe said.
Roe and his family plan to move into the house that will face University Avenue. His home is expected to be about 2,500 square feet in size, and the second home, which he plans to sell, will be about 2,100 square feet in size.
“I feel really good about this project,” he said. “I think it's going to benefit Missoula and the neighborhood. That building? It wasn't safe, it was an eyesore among all those really nice homes in the area.”
The demolition did not come as a surprise, but was nevertheless a nostalgic, heartbreaking chapter in the fraternity's long history, said Brian Dirnberger, a UM Phi Delta Theta alumni who was fraternity president in 1994 and on the committee that tried to save the house.
“It's been leading up to this,” Dirnberger said. “The last two years, the house has been closed and on the market to be sold. There have been a number of attempts to save the house, but they were all unsuccessful.”
The fraternity was chartered in 1919 and became official in 1920, he said. Since it began, 1,500 people have been initiated into the group, and 800 members are listed on the current UM alumni mailing list.
Among the long list of UM Phi Delta Theta members are notable Montana names, such as Great Falls businessman Ian Davidson, Missoula banker Hal Fraser, retired Missoula attorney Ty Robinson and Missoula businessman Kermit Schwanke.
“I have split emotions over this,” Dirnberger said. “It's been kind of a nightmare over the past few years to save it and keep the fraternity going - but I'm sad, because there are a lot of memories that go with it.”
Although the house is gone, the fraternity could be resurrected.
“This doesn't necessarily mean it's the very end,” Dirnberger said. “It's just the physical structure that is gone.
“A chapter can exist in the dorms, and funds can be set aside to buy a new house in the future.”
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