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Posted on Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 5:32 p.m.

Historic DKE fraternity hall celebrates 133 years as its surroundings change rapidly

By Ben Freed

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Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com

A historic building on East William Street known as The Shant celebrated its 133rd birthday Tuesday. The house, officially called “The Hall of Omicron,” serves as a meeting place for the University of Michigan chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity, as well as the headquarters for the international fraternal organization and the Gerald Ford Library.

“We like to call it the world-wide headquarters, because we have chapters both here in the United States and in Canada,” Doug Lanpher, Executive Director of the fraternity, said. “We moved our headquarters here from Washington, D.C. in 2004.”

Architect William LeBaron Jenney, later known as the “father of the American skyscraper,” designed the building. Jenney came to Ann Arbor as a professor to found the architecture program at the University of Michigan.

“It’s really the only building we have that’s suitable to house an archival library and a museum,” Lanpher said.

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The library houses signed photographs from alumni George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Theodore Roosevelt, and University of Michigan grad Gerald Ford.

Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com

“The library is named after Gerald Ford, one of five presidents who were members of DKE. It houses books that were written by or about DKE Brothers as well as memorabilia.”

According to A Century and a Half of DKE, a history of the fraternity, the building was used only for fraternity ritual in its early years.

“An exterior eight-foot high brick wall was added in 1901, increasing the building’s mysterious appearance. It was used only for late night meetings, the gas-lit interior enhancing the building’s eeriness.”

Today, the building still sticks out as somewhat eerie, especially in comparison with its new surroundings. The neighborhood has certainly changed, with new developments such as Zaragon West popping up, and the sale of the White Market property recently completed.

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Included in the memorabilia was a cigar box given to every delegate at the Fraternity’s 76th convention held in Havana, Cuba. Mario Menocal, then President of the Republic of Cuba, was a brother and hosted the convention.

Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com

Despite the fact that the lot is extremely narrow (the address is 611 1/2), developers that have been buying up surrounding properties have also cast their eyes on this historic building.

“We’ve started to get unsolicited bids on the property,” Lanpher said. “It’s going to be very tempting, some of the bids are quite generous, but we do not plan on selling any time in the near future.”

Lanpher said that if developers did buy the building, they would have to maintain most of the structure because of its status as a historic building.

The Omicron chapter was founded in 1855, 10 years after the first fraternities came to the University of Michigan. The cornerstone for the chapter hall was laid in 1878 and construction finished the following year.

Below is an AnnArbor.com photo slideshow from 2009:

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2

Comments

Stephanie Buttrey

Wed, Jun 5, 2013 : 12:04 a.m.

FYI, I just heard back from Sarah at DKE and tours are available to members only.

Ben Freed

Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 6:40 p.m.

jns131, Thanks for the comment. They do not have tours, but the house is still used by the fraternity and can be viewed upon request. I recommend emailing info@dke.org or calling the office at 734-302-2410. Sarah Christensen and Doug Lanpher work in the office and I'm sure they'd be happy to show you around. Best, Ben

grimmk

Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 1:53 p.m.

It's not abandoned?! I love that house. It's spooky and beautiful.

Goofus

Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 3:18 a.m.

I wish they'd honor some of their own traditions by cleaning up their courtyard more than once every 133 years. I've walked by and seen the same trashed empties and garbage in that lot since last summer.

David K Easlick Jr

Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 1:23 a.m.

I was the founder of the Foundation, the Rampant Lion Foundation, which bought the building from the local alumni. We as alumni of the University of Michigan Chapter raised over a hundred thousand dollars to save the building in the 80s. Ed Frey who was Jerry Ford's big brother and for whom the Dean of the business school is named, came up with the last $60,000 to put us over the top and prevent the sale for debt and taxes to be a retail music store. I was the executive director of DKE for 25 years and moved the headquarters back to Michigan from Richmond, Virginia in 2005. Happy to share great moments of history of the building with anyone interested, including the multiple times we had to totally renovate the building and save it from tax sale. Email me at davideaslick@gmail.com or leave a comment on my website www.non-profitlawyers.net.

Diana

Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 11:13 p.m.

From the front sidewalk, it looks like a bad place to spend Halloween.

jns131

Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 6:28 p.m.

I have to agree with this one. Growing up and walking by this place I always wondered what dark stuff went on inside this house or building. So, do they allow tours? Have open house hours or what? Would love to visit this spooky old place.