A city advisory committee approved plans Thursday for the demolition and replacement of a University of Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity house near East Campus.
The Historic Preservation Commission approved plans for the FarmHouse Fraternity house at 3601 Apple St. The fraternity plans to tear down its current house and rebuild it, likely starting in May, said Jeff Monzu of Omaha architectural firm Leo A Daly and a FarmHouse alum.
The fraternity also plans to demolish a private residence adjacent to the east of its main house so it can expand its parking lot. Monzu said the project will allow the fraternity to expand its membership from 80 to 88 and increase off-street parking by nearly 25 stalls.
The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission, which is expected to consider a special permit for the project at its Sept. 28 meeting.
People are also reading…
Monzu said the project will require the fraternity’s members to live elsewhere for about a year.
“The interest in the house and institution is still strong,†he said.
FarmHouse started at UNL in 1911 and was indefinitely suspended after the death of an 18-year-old freshman in September 2014 at an off-campus party.
It is no longer suspended, according to a university spokesman.
Paul Johnson, president of the East Campus Community Organization, said the neighborhood group now supports the project after objecting to earlier expansion proposals.
He said the increase in off-site parking, which should result in fewer fraternity members’ vehicles on nearby streets, offsets the loss of the private residence adjacent to the property. The fraternity owns the private home.
“The additional parking stalls are a bigger plus than the loss of the house,†he said. “We’re pretty happy with it.â€