The Hype

Texas Chapter returns home to 2614

by Andrew Chew and Jacob Sloan

Late in March of 2006 just before our re-chartering in May, the active chapter received the approval of the Acacia Building Association, Inc. to move back into 2614 Rio Grande Street, the original and alumni-owned Acacia property.

Pictures of the property can be seen here.

Since 2614’s remodel in 2004, another fraternity had lived there paying rent to the ABA and allowing our alumni to keep the house for our eventual return. We allowed the leasing fraternity to remain in the house over the summer and moved back into 2614 in August. Our house manager Jonathan Bahr and president of the ABA Z. Smith made a thorough inspection of the property and had the necessary painting and carpet cleaning done before our arrival.

For most of the chapter, the first days of living in 2614 were the first time that they had been inside the property. The initial re-founding fathers got to tour the building before it was remodeled in the fall of 2003, but most had still never seen the inside of the property since it was torn down to the frame and practically reconstructed. While many repairs are still underway, the active chapter is doing its best to make 2614 the best fraternity house on the Texas campus. Thanks to generous donations from alumni like Barry Baxter, Rob Mickam and David Oppermann, we have obtained some much needed furniture for the common areas, computer for the study and big screen for the living room.

The house boasts a two-story, 20-bedroom dormitory wing. Eighteen of the rooms have connecting suite-style bathrooms while two downstairs have a private bathroom. The dorm wing also contains a study lounge with computer and conference table and a small office utilized by the fraternity officers for storage and control of some of the house electronic locks. A touchpad lock secures the building for the actives, and each dorm has its own keycard lock. Most of the rooms are 14 feet by 14 feet with cable and Ethernet ports. The first floor is also connected to the main common room by two large double doors. This common room is the same size as it has always been with public male and female bathrooms partitioned by a section of wall. Our actual living room is just on the other side of the entry foyer where we have our big screen. This living area is also the only part of the common room where the tile has been replaced from the previous white tile of 2614. The chapter has just recently upgraded the kitchen by selling the old, restaurant-sized stove equipment for a simple household model. The older equipment was no longer passing city codes, and, at this time, a chapter meal plan is not reasonable. The kitchen is currently still undergoing some repair to get the cabinets, and the chapter is looking to obtain a large refrigerator and an ice machine. The kitchen area contains many pantry and storage rooms that we still have not filled. The back yard is accessible from the common room and covers about as much area as our former house on Salado Street. The front yard remains the same large size opening up to Rio Grande Street. The 28-spot parking lot is in back of the house on Salado Street. The washer and dryer units are also located in the back of the house outside of the kitchen. Currently, 21 brothers live inside the house, and the actives are adjusting to living together and seeing each other on a daily basis.

In the future we hope that we will be able to make numerous gradual improvements on the house so that it can once again be the thriving fraternity house that many remember. Our hope is that alumni can continue to assist us in this effort so that the house continues to be a proud part of being an Acacian.