Here's an interesting article I stumbled across about the Zeta Tau Alpha house at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The city of Urbana wants to try again to make the house, still owned by the sorority, a historic landmark but the sorority is against designating the building as such.
Yes, I can see them not wanting it to be a landmark. If it is, they cannot renovate as they chose, even though they are the owners. They have to follow guidelines set forth by the historical society.
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Sigma Kappa
One Heart One Way since 1874
^ This is a very real concern. Several of the houses at my school are designated as historical landmarks and are in need of massive renovations and as such, are crapholes.
I agree. The neighborhood next to mine is a historic district, and it's consequently very difficult to make the necessary renovations. Especially for a building that is housing college students, it's important to be able to update the house as needed. Interestingly, a good handful of Greek houses at UIUC are designated historic landmarks.