Out with the Old, In with the New

When I was in school at Alabama there were 14 National Panhellenic Sororities.  They all had sorority houses on campus and I loved the location of the Alpha Chi house facing Bryant Denny Stadium.  I never lived in the house during my tenure, but I spent many hours in that house and have wonderful memories of eating lunch before games, rush, pledge retreat and many other things.

In the years since then, the student population at Alabama has exploded and the Greek system has right along with it.  The system has added a few new sororities and has expanded Sorority Row to add new houses for those sororities, along with some existing sororities choosing to move to a new lot to build a new house.  I knew that with all of the change, the Alpha Chi's would either have to rebuild or add on to our existing house but I very strongly didn't want to give up our place facing the stadium.  So I was happy to hear a while ago that we had purchased the lot behind our house and had plans to expand onto it, while still keeping the frontage of our house facing the stadium.

A lot has happened since then and we are set to build construction once school releases in May.  We will be tearing down both houses and totally rebuilding a brand new, 40,000 sq ft house that will be similar in size to the new sorority houses being built.  This house will be able to accommodate the increased chapter total sizes which have at least doubled since I pledged.  Just to compare, I had 44 girls in my pledge class and there were 99 in the 2012 pledge class.

This was a very long intro to say that, while I'm glad that we're getting a larger house, I'm also a little sad that the Alpha Chi house that I knew will no longer be there.  While Charlotte has been in the house numerous times, I'm not sure that she actually remembers any of it.  So I wanted to make sure and take her through the house before it was torn down.  And I wanted to get a picture of the two of us in front of it, in case one day she pledged and could have a picture of us in front of the new house in her room in the new house.

So the morning of the Texas A&M game, Charlotte and I set off for the Alpha Chi house mid-morning.  Charlotte was so excited about going and was singing the Alpha Chi door songs that she knows all the way over there.  She kept saying how beautiful the house was and she loved seeing all of the "Alpha Chi Omega Girls" as she calls them.  She even got to see Lauren in her room and sing the "Lyres and Pearls" door song for her!

We even found my composite's hanging upstairs so I didn't feel too terribly old!

I took quite a few pictures of the interior of the house just for my memories.  It looks significantly different than it did when I was there due to a beautiful interior redecorating a few years ago, but I still wanted to remember it.  

Formal living room

Formal living room

Formal living room

Informal living room

Informal living room

Formal living room

I know that change is necessary but I am a little sad to see this house go.  I'm very thankful that Charlotte and I got to spend a little time in "my" Alpha Chi house though.  I hope she remembers it but, if not, I've got the pictures to show her!