book of records - Kansas State University

7.30 Book of Records
At Homecoming on October 29, 1966, the Board of Directors ratified a chapter-passed resolution which
provided for increased rents to make payments on the building site. While this money never had to be used to make
payments (the option wasn=t exercised until just before construction of the new house started), it was kept in savings and
helped pay construction costs. It was also agreed that the next step would be to make every effort to get the old Chapter
House sold to the University.
J. B. Angle was not in attendance at the meeting because he had sufficiently recovered from his arthritis and had
returned to his employment in the South. Brother Angle passed away that next summer as Delta Theta lost one of its
finest brothers and an energetic worker for a new Chapter House.
Tom Muir, who was an influential backer of the University, began a personal campaign on behalf of the
Building Corporation to create interest in the University to buy the site at 1408 Denison. The University agreed to a
meeting on April 13, 1967, to discuss the situation. Representing Delta Theta were Tom Muir, Dick Fagerberg and
Worthy Master Bruce Heckman. Kansas State University was represented by Vice President for University
Development C. Clyde Jones and University Comptroller Dan Beatty.
It was agreed at the meeting that each would appoint an appraiser and they in turn would appoint a third. The
three would set a value on the old Chapter House that could be used by both Delta Theta and K-State in negotiations.
Several weeks later, Ken Heywood of the Endowment Association and Tom Muir agreed that since Delta Theta
wouldn=t need the new site immediately, the area wouldn=t be developed or sold until Delta Theta was ready to begin
construction.
Under the authority of the Building Corporation, Muir kept negotiating with the University as to sale price. He
also helped in trying to find a way for Kansas State University to be able to make the purchase with its relatively limited
expansion budget.
By December of 1967, a possible deal for the purchase of the old Chapter House was taking form. So that the
Building Corporation would be ready when the negotiations were complete, letters were sent out to all Building
Corporation Board of Directors members announcing a Special Meeting for February 17, 1968. Proxies were also sent
out so that those unable to attend could vote on the two resolutions. The first resolution authorized the Board of
Directors to sell the old Chapter House to the University and the second authorized the Directors to buy the land for the
new Chapter House and negotiate contracts for the design and construction of the Chapter House. Both resolutions were
passed at the meeting held at the Chapter House.
However, before the sale could be final, a bill authorizing the land exchange between the University, the
Endowment Association and the Building Corporation had to be passed by the Kansas Legislature. The bill was
proposed by State Senator Charles Arthur of Manhattan, who happened to be an ΑΤΩ alumnus from the University of
Kansas. 1968 Senate Bill No. 585 passed the Senate on March 3, 1968 and passed the House of Representatives on
March 8, 1968. Governor Robert B. Docking signed it shortly thereafter and the bill became law on March 20, 1968.
After the sale was approved by the Board of Regents and the Attorney General of Kansas, the land transfer was
accomplished.
The Building Corporation paid off the mortgage on the old Chapter House and put the remainder of the sale
proceeds in a savings account to be used to help pay construction costs of the new Chapter House. The chapter kept
paying the full amount of rent to the Building Corporation while the University allowed the Building Corporation to
lease the old Chapter House from them for $100 per month for the next two years--thus allowing the accumulation of the
necessary funds to start construction of the new Chapter House.
In May, Tom Muir was authorized to work out final arrangements on the purchase of the new site from the
Endowment Association and to arrange for design and construction of the new Chapter House. At the same time, Larry
Emig came forward to spearhead the fund drive.