Dear Brother,
The fraternity house that we’re so fond of is facing
some challenges:
• New laws require that a fire suppression
system (sprinklers) be in place by 2011.
• The dormitory portion is almost 40 years old
and is showing the wear and tear of being
lived in by three generations of young men.
• Its late ‘60s-era single-pane windows and
minimal insulation means larger-thannecessary energy bills.
• The flat roof doesn’t leak…yet…but will need
work soon.
The Alumni board began exploring this project in
2003. We’ve looked at a number of options, we’ve
learned a lot, and feel we’ve formulated a solid
plan on how to proceed – now we’d like to share it
with you.
The planned construction
The house is in great shape structurally, so we’ll
just gut the walls. This will allow us to:
1. Minimize structural changes to the existing
property
2. Invest dollars where they’re really needed, and
3. Complete construction during the summer
To improve energy efficiency, we’ll replace the
existing windows, add more insulation in exterior
walls, and update the heating system. We’ll also
use “green” materials if they’re cost-effective and
available.
Besides putting in a sprinkler system to meet new
building codes, we’ll update the wiring to handle
the electrical load of today’s appliances and
equipment. We’ll also install cable for computers
and telecommunications.
Nicer amenities needed to compete
We’ll modernize the rooms and facilities to be
comparable or better than the dorms and other offcampus housing. We’ll remain at 36 beds, with a
standard room layout (one desk and closet per
man, allowances for lofts, etc.), but we’ll upgrade
other areas:
• Expanded bathrooms on 1st and 2nd floors
• On-floor laundries
• Locker/mudroom for barn/work clothes, etc.
• Exercise room
For aesthetics, we’ll add a peaked roof to the dorm
and reface the exterior to match the rest of the
house. We’ll also add a new south entryway with
a vestibule and a new encased staircase from the
2nd floor to the basement on the east side.
Other areas will change
We’ll remodel the old chapter room with two new
bedrooms. These will replace Rooms 101 and 201,
which will become part of the expanded
bathrooms/laundries. The common mudroom/
locker room will also be located here.
The current recreation room in the new portion of
the house will serve an additional purpose, as the
new chapter room. The furniture, pool tables, etc.,
can be easily moved to set up seating for chapter
meetings. In addition, it’s larger than the old
chapter room, which is currently filled to overcapacity during meetings.
The investment needed
The estimated cost for the renovation is $955,000.
However, with the current depressed economy
and construction companies hungry for contracts,
similar recent construction projects have seen bids
come in up to one-third lower than originally
estimated.
(over please)
In this case, we actually may be able to afford to
add some features to the house, such as cooling,
that we hadn’t originally planned.
How we’ll pay for it
We have talked to alumni from UW-Madison,
Kansas State and North Dakota State about their
recent fundraising efforts for house remodeling
projects, and have received some great advice and
insight. By the way, each of these chapters raised
more than $1 million to assist in various levels of
their projects.
Here’s how it pencils out for our chapter:
• We have accumulated more than $70,000 in
savings since we paid off the new house
addition in April 2007.
• We’ll continue to increase this amount until
construction begins.
• We should be able to finance approximately
$225,000-$250,000 of the renovation (15-year
payoff).
• And, of course, we’ll take advantage of any
available grants or credits for energy efficiency
or renewable energy.
• Bottom Line: We would need to raise $600,000$650,000 in pledges by the Summer of 2010 to
begin demolition and begin the renovations.
Alpha Psi is currently 900 Brothers strong –
working together, we can achieve this goal. We
will ensure the future of AGR at UWRF, if we
ensure that we have a chapter house that meets the
needs of future brothers. That’s why the Alpha Psi
Alumni Board has decided to move forward with
the plan to raise funds to update and improve our
AGR home.
How brothers and others can contribute
Alpha Psi has many Brothers, spouses, Rho-Mates
and friends, and we’ll ask for their help in any
way they can. Here are just some of the possible
ways they can contribute:
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Cash Gifts (tax-deductible checks payable to
“Alpha Gamma Rho Foundation-Alpha Psi” or
non-tax deductible checks to “Alpha Psi Alumni
Association”)
Pledges (a commitment to contribute in single or
multiple installments for up to three years)
Real Estate
Whole Life Insurance
Tangible Personal Property (jewelry, artwork,
collections, equipment, etc.)
Publicly Traded Securities (readily marketable
securities, such as those traded on the U.S. stock
exchange)
Closely Held Securities (non-publicly traded
securities)
Deferred Gifts (bequests/wills, charitable gift
annuities, deferred gift annuities, charitable
remainder trusts)
Won’t you please help your chapter?
Our strategy is to have Team Leaders for each
initiation year of Alpha Psi. These Team Leaders will
work with Volunteers to contact all our Brothers to
ask for support.
If you have an interest in helping out with the
campaign, please contact Campaign Chair Jack
Ourada.
We hope you can contribute – and ask those
Brothers, Rho-Mates and friends you know to do so,
as well.
For more information about the Campaign to
Renovate the Alpha Psi House:
• Contact Jack Ourada, Campaign Chair, at 920731-8845 or [email protected].
• See the Alpha Psi web site at
www.agralphapsi.com – click Housing
Renovation Project on left hand side.