Delta Nu House Corporation

Delta Nu of Pi Kappa Alpha House Corporation was established on January 26, 1961, by its first three-member board of directors: Lynwood B. Kleinhoffer, Carl Mitseff, and Donald J. Miller. The trio established the corporation with $1,000.00 of operating cash. Their plan was to own and operate a house to be occupied by undergraduate members of The Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, Delta Nu Chapter.

The corporation purchased a multi-dwelling unit located at 266 East Hancock, Detroit, Michigan 48201. It is believed that the building was The Motherhouse and Convent of the Felician Sisters.

Delta Nu of Pi Kappa Alpha was originally chartered to exist for a period of thirty years and was scheduled to fade from existence in 1991. However, Delta Nu Chapter was about to face a challenge. The City of Detroit and the federal intended to exercise their collective powers of eminent domain and take the house from the fraternity. A new house was required.

THE TRANSITION

Donald J. Miller returned to the corporation as secretary and Robert P. Duff was appointed president. They amended the articles of incorporation and changed its existence to "perpetual," on December 1, 1989. Donald H. Jumisco, joined the team. Brother Duff and "the two Dons," as they came to be known, forged a path with other alumni and undergraduate members to purchase "The Harris Funeral Home," located at 4251 Cass Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48201.

The path was challenging. It was unclear what the House Corporation would be paid for the Hancock Home. A significant shortfall was anticipated.

The cost for the taking was litigated between the City of Detroit and the house corporation over the period of approximately two years. Undergraduate members were required to appear at the Wayne County Circuit Court prepared to offer testimony as to the value of the property. The parties settled and had some funds to put toward the purchase of a new house.

The undergraduate chapter partnered with the House Corporation to raise enough money to purchase and renovate the new home. Working a lemonade stand at the Grand Prix became an annual event during the years leading up to the acquisition of the new house. Chapter members also volunteered to work for Waste Management delivering every recycling bin to every home in the cities of Southfield, Livonia, and Farmington Hills.

The closing of the purchase of the Harris Funeral Home occurred April 9, 1992. The funeral home conducted its last service immediately before Delta Nu Chapter took possession of the property.

ZONING & CONSTRUCTION

The struggle was not over. The house could not be inhabited because it was zoned as "commercial" and had to be re-zoned as a "multi-unit dwelling" in order to receive a certificate of occupancy. However, numerous undergraduate members spent the night in sleeping bags on the floor, every night, for over a year before construction began.

Re-zoning was opposed by a group of residents who were not keen on the notion of having a "frat house" on the block. The opposition was led by the owner of several rundown, uninhabited multi-floor apartment buildings, who also lived around the corner.

Rezoning was successfully opposed and Delta Nu's plea was placed before the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Zoning Board of Appeals approved re-zoning after the chapter president met with Mayor Coleman A. Young's deputy and sold him on the virtues and values of the fraternity.

The next challenge was obtaining permits for reconstruction. The chapter's application sat for more months under a pile of other applicants until undergraduate brother made a personal appearance to the building department to check the application's status. Shortly thereafter, the permit was approved and construction was begun and continued until the end of 1992.

LIFE IN THE CORRIDOR

The house was officially opened in January 1993. Though operating a fraternity house on a commuter campus can be challenging, through undergraduate occupancy, chapter fundraising, and continued alumni support, the partnership between the chapter and the corporation has promoted the values of Pi Kappa Alpha since 1961. May that partnership prevail in perpetuity.