Phi Delta Theta Chapter House (Berkeley, California)

 house, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

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Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity was founded in 1848 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Its California Alpha chapter was established in Berkeley in 1873.

The Phi Delta Theta chapter house was sold in the late ’60s to a nonprofit called Project Community. In November 1973, the building was acquired by the Unification Church, operating under the name New Educational Development Systems, Inc. (NEDS). In 1980, U.C. proposed to build student apartments on the city block bounded by Hearst Avenue, Highland Place, Ridge Road, and La Loma Avenue. The university sought to purchase the remaining privately owned properties on that square block, including 2717 Hearst Avenue. All buildings on the block were to be razed for the new housing project. NEDS refused to sell its property for the price offered by the university. The university’s response was, “We’ll build around you.”

The former Phi Delta Theta chapter house is the only non-university building left on the block. It is hemmed in and cut off from the rest of the community, and its once glorious views are reduced to glimpses from the top floor. Since 1988, the university has been pressing the city for an encroachment permit in order to build a pedestrian bridge across Hearst Avenue that would further isolate the landmark building, which is currently being restored.

www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/phi_delta_t...