Welcome Brothers

Welcome to the official Iowa Delta website! Bookmark this page and check back often as we plan to update it regularly with happenings from both the active and alumni chapter. Note that the website is currently under development. In the near future, you will be able to donate online with PayPal, directly from our website. This will be a secure and quick way to show your support for the chapter.

Update and Status of the Chapter - January 2011

Our first semester as a landlord with the Alpha Delta Pi sorority (ADPi) is under our belts. And we passed our rental inspection which means we have a rental certificate for the next 3 years. There is still about $3,000 in retrofitting work to do to close our building permit which is scheduled for early January 2011. A list of work projects and what is still required by the city is listed below:

Opossum infestation (exterminated)
Plumbing back up (resolved)
Duct work (January 2011)
Rental Certificate (December 2010)
Building permit closing
- Retrofitting doors (January 2011)
- Fire rated tags on doors (January 2011)
Cabinets coming away from the wall (December 2010)
Exterior lighting repair (December 2010)

The women of ADPi had a successful rush which is good for business. They withstood a rash of vandalism during recruitment but cleaned up the mess and persevered (pledged 23 women). They have invested a good amount of time and their own money on landscaping and curb appeal. They have also furnished the house beautifully and have kept it in great condition (hired a cleaning lady, no food in the bedrooms, no parties etc.). They also pay all utilities and the landlord pays for snow removal, lawn care and trash removal.

The Phi Delt alums had a joint meeting with the ADPi housing board and believe that this partnership is largely working as planned. The women will move out in May, the house will close for the summer and they will move back into the house in August. This means no rental income for the months of June and July. But, it is good to have the house occupied and maintained!

Key Events of Note:

During October 2010 members of the IA Delta Householding Corporation met with Drake officials (Dean of Students and Director of Greek Life) to discuss status of renovation and general plans for re-colonizing in 2014.

On August 30, 2010 IA Delta alums held an open house. Those in attendance included 10-12 Drake officials (including President Maxwell & Provost Renner), well over 20 Iowa Delta PDT alums and many ADPi alums and actives. ADPi Actives gave tours of the newly renovated and decorated house.

Update and Status the Chapter - August 2010

November 2009 seems like a long time ago. That is when we all first heard that Iowa Delta's future was in jeopardy. Since that time, the Housing Corporation, along with the help of many alumni volunteers, has been doing everything possible to ensure Iowa Delta will be back at Drake in 2014.

Specifically, we borrowed $175,000 from the Phi Delta Theta Palmer Fund to complete extensive renovations of the house. These renovations were done in order to rent the house to Alpha Delta Pi sorority beginning in August 2010 and also to provide an improved chapter facility for the anticipated return of Iowa Delta.

Please know that the Housing Corporation and local alumni worked very hard to keep costs down by coordinating volunteers and donating services as well as working with the contractors to make sure we only paid for what was needed.

During the renovation, which included new wiring, new plumbing, new electrical, new bathrooms, new kitchen and new laundry facilities, we encountered many unanticipated expenses including:

Extensive termite damage on the first floor
Extensive water damage around many of the windows, behind walls and in the floors
Fire code and ADA compliance issues dealing with hallways, stairwells, bathrooms and the doors throughout the house.
Additional demolition of the rolling floors in order to lay carpeting.
Previous removal of a number of load-bearing walls in the kitchen and back of the house.

Throughout this last year it has been very clear that you, the alumni, wanted the Housing Corporation and the Iowa Delta 2014 Steering Committee to make decisions that would best position us for a return to Drake in 2014. There have been numerous communications with many interested alumni from all over the country in an effort to make sure the local leaders were doing what was expected.

The Housing Corporation took the input of the alumni and decided to renovate and rent out the house for a 5-year term to the ADP sorority. In order to pay for these renovations we opted to take out the loan from the Palmer Fund in an attempt to avoid coming to you, the alumni for support until we get closer to 2014. We calculated that, given what we would collect in rent, we would be able to pay off the loan and build an emergency fund while paying the taxes and property insurance. As you have read, the cost of renovation was underestimated as the repair work kept giving us new unexpected issues each day to deal with. So much for that emergency fund!

All of the improvements made will help to ensure that there will be a chapter house for Phi Delta Theta to once again call home in the future. More specific fund raising plans are being developed and will be forthcoming before Drake Relays 2011.

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