Iconic Cape Girardeau fraternity lodge up for sale

The former fraternity house known as the Pike Lodge is on the market after nearly four decades of ownership.

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity -- whose members are commonly referred to as "Pikes" -- of Southeast Missouri State University made the decision to sell its longtime off-campus chapter house because of high maintenance costs, said chapter adviser Trae Bertrand. After repeated acts of vandalism to the house, Bertrand said the building is in "very poor" condition.

"Over the past year, they've had the copper pipes stolen and the air conditioners were stolen," Bertrand said. "The Pike Lodge essentially has become too deteriorated and too costly to maintain."

Charlie Herbst, a member of the Pike alumni advisory board and associate commissioner of Cape Girardeau County, said the fraternity also battled with frequent littering on the property, 2815 S. Sprigg St.

"That far out of town, we have a real problem with people just dumping their trash on the property," Herbst said. "Last fall, the fraternity cleaned up the entire lot, but I drove by just a few days ago and already it's covered in trash."

In 2011, a report was taken by the Cape Girardeau Police Department concerning the littered property surrounding the Pike Lodge but there has since been no action taken by the city.

The ultimate decision to sell the house was made by the Pi Kappa Alpha-Epsilon Iota House Corp., a not-for-profit group run by volunteer alumni to provide affordable university housing for the chapter's members. According to a statement from the organization's website, the corporation chose to sell Pike Lodge "because of its limited utilization by the undergraduate chapter, lack of use by the alumni and the financial strain of the upkeep of the property." In the same statement, the housing corporation said it would like to "redirect funds and focus" on plans to build a new off-campus fraternity house.

No one currently lives at the house.

Bertrand said the reasons outlined by the housing corporation also were behind the fraternity's recent lack of off-campus events.

Bruce Skinner, vice president for student success at Southeast Missouri State University, said that, despite speculation, the university played no role in the decision.

"It was between the members and alumni to make that decision," Skinner said. "They could certainly host off-campus events if they wanted to."

Herbst said although the building had not been used by the fraternity for several months, the deterioration of the building and its "rich history" make the decision unfortunate.

Before its fraternity days, the Pike Lodge was Marquette School -- a rural, two-room schoolhouse once described as "the finest rural school in Cape Girardeau County" by county school officials. The building served as Marquette School from 1924 to 1968, when the district was annexed to Cape Girardeau. Less than 10 years later, the building was acquired by the Pikes for use as a chapter house.

"I'd like to see someone buy it and preserve it like the old Hanover school building," said Herbst, referring to the Hanover Lutheran School preserved last year as an original school house museum in Cape Girardeau.

The building has been listed on the open market with an asking price of $34,900.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

2815 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.