Tuesday, June 25, 2002

New Fraternity Village to Open in 2003

The University of B.C. will develop a new Fraternity Village as part of creating a new residential community at UBC, Vice-President Dennis Pavlich said today.

"Fraternities are a vibrant part of campus life and we are excited that we have found a way to create a new Fraternity Village that will be part of the university town that is emerging at UBC," Pavlich said.

The university is working with campus fraternities and Polygon Construction Management Limited to provide a cohesive community of Greek Letter groups while at the same time allowing each fraternity to express its own individuality on the UBC campus. The new fraternity residences will be clustered in a village-like setting around a common courtyard that will serve as a gathering place for formal and informal events.

UBC has provided the fraternities with a long-term lease on the new site. Each fraternity is responsible for providing independent financing with respect to its residence. Construction of the new Fraternity Village is expected to start this fall with residency scheduled for September 2003.

"This is a very exciting venture and we have been fortunate to forge this relationship that will enable us to occupy these new residences and retain a campus presence for many years to come," said James Dixon, a Kappa Sigma alumnus who chaired a negotiating committee of alumni from UBC fraternities.

The sites of the existing fraternity residences around Wesbrook Mall will be developed as residences for market housing to be built for UBC by Polygon.

Additional plans to provide a sorority residence on campus are also under way.