Former fraternity member buys Pike Lodge

EDITOR'S NOTE: The date the fraternity purchased the building has been corrected.

The "For Sale" sign that has for the last three months graced the front yard of the building known as Pike Lodge has been removed.

The building originally served as a rural, two-room schoolhouse for Marquette School from 1924 to 1968 before being purchased by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity of Southeast Missouri State University -- whose members are commonly referred to as Pikes -- in late December 1974 to be used for social events. The fraternity chose in February to sell the house because of high maintenance costs and disuse.

Quinn Strong, a former Pike and self-proclaimed "house nerd," said he plans to renovate the building at 2815 S. Sprigg St. and make it his personal home, as well as a meeting place for fraternity alumni.

"To find a building with this much sentimental value to me and my friends, [buying] it was a no brainer," he said. "And I really do want to save this stuff and restore the old building to its original glory."

Strong has enlisted the help of Dr. Steven Hoffman, a history professor and Historic Preservation Program coordinator at Southeast, to nominate the building for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Both men said they believe many in the community had largely forgotten the building was once a rural, two-room school and believe having it on the list would bring that history back into focus.

"I think it's a great way to call attention to a pretty significant piece of local history," Hoffman said. "This school once taught both black and white pupils at a time when integration was pretty rare. Although we still don't have a lot of documentation on the actual education received at the school, the fact that black and white pupils sat side by side in one room gives the building significance beyond its rural school architecture."

Hoffman said the nomination for national registry listing already has been submitted and the next step will be a review by the State Historic Preservation Office in August. They will take into consideration the building's age, integrity and significance, and if they approve, the building will be evaluated by the National Park Service in December before being placed on the register.

"They're still in the discussion phase and looking at it now, so we haven't received much communication from them, but in my opinion it has great integrity and is eligible for listing," Hoffman said.

Quinn Strong discusses the former Pike Lodge that he plans to renovate Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)

Strong said he is counting on the building being accepted in the national register before he begins any real restoration. Properties named to the list are eligible for federal tax credits, which help owners keep down the costs often associated with maintaining an old building.

"The sheer size of the building alone would make it expensive to keep up with, but there's also the taxes and insurance," he said. "Without the tax credits, it would just take too much money to fix the place up, so I'm really counting on that to come through."

In addition to the cost, Strong faces another setback in the restoration process. In the few days he has owned the house, he said there have been two break-ins.

"They've stolen the pipes to the plumbing and parts for the electric, which all would have been torn out and replaced anyway, but my main concern is property damage to any of the building's original architecture," he said. "I tried to put up a chain-link fence to cut off easy access to the building, but even that got stolen."

Strong said he is "at his wit's end" with the rampant theft on the property and already has begun the process of installing cameras and other security measures. He remains hopeful that with these precautions, the building could be restored as early as March 2014.

"It just needs a little love and attention in some areas," Strong said. "But overall it's a good, old solid building."

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

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