Chi Gamma Epsilon and Bones Gate fraternities, which closed parts of their houses for major renovations this summer, held registered parties Friday night to celebrate the reopening of their new basements.
Construction at Chi Gam began in late June and cost $400,000, which was paid for by low interest loans from the College to be repaid with contributions from Chi Gam alumni, fraternity president Brandon Piper '06 said.
Piper said he hopes the renovations will be completed within the next two weeks.
Chi Gam's plans began when the organization needed to install a new fire escape to adhere to the College's fire code.
"We figured as long as we had the construction crew in, we may as well make other updates for the house," Piper said.
In addition to a new fire escape, the fraternity gutted and redesigned the entire basement, laid a new wood floor on the first level of the house and refinished the meetings room.
Some Chi Gam members said they felt frustrated while their basement and meetings room were out of commission but are confident that the inconvenience was worth the wait.
"It was really tough at first," Piper said, adding that members needed to go to their friends' fraternities to play beer pong while Chi Gam only had one available table.
"Not having a basement for these few weeks was annoying but worth it," Eduardo Bertran '06 said. "The new basement is built to withstand anything we can throw at it, and I'm sure everyone on campus will love it as much as we do."
Other members of the house were less frustrated with the lack of accommodations this summer.
"Not having a basement for awhile actually worked out in our favor because it allowed us to take the Chi Gam road show around campus and show all the other houses how sweet we actually are," Ben Waters '06 said.
But Waters is also happy to have his basement finished.
"Now that it's back, it feels like St. Patrick's Day every day," he said.
Partygoers who frequent Chi Gam expressed joy about the basement's new features after Friday night's party.
"There's a girls' bathroom in the basement!" Ilissa Samplin '08 said. "Granted, it won't last, and probably in a week you couldn't pay me to use it, but the idea was pretty considerate."
In addition to the new bathrooms, Chi Gam's renovations increased the basement's floor space, benefiting "pong tables, crowd movement and talking to girls without worrying about getting your beer knocked out of your hand," Waters said.
Those who ventured into Bones Gate fraternity's basement during a Friday night party also encountered welcome renovations.
"The feng shui of the pong tables coupled with the opulent mahogany bar makes Bones Gate's basement the gold standard for Greek institutions," partygoer Andrew Kempler '08 said.
Bones Gate officers declined to comment on the construction.
