2008, after lions removed
In one of Lost Fort Collins’ earliest posts, I talked about the Sigma house on Laurel. The boys lost their charter afterserving alcohol to young girls during a party. Gossip around town said they would paint those lions at the entry stairs red to signal when a brother had bagged a virgin.
The old house is now, finally, a hole in the ground.
June 2009
Or maybe it always was ….
Sigma house from the 1972 CSU Yearbook
I thought about that when I saw the hole in the ground last week and remembered that the place was more or less called “WE HATE WOMEN” when I was in grade school or thereabouts.
I suppose I wasn’t the only one who was more or less in grade school then.
I hated walking by that dorm when I was in college. I’d heard some stories about it, though they were never *too* bad (until the poor woman died), but there was always a negative “vibe” from that place. I went to school in the late 80’s and early 90’s and never knew about the “hating women” history of the building.
It’s too bad, because I always thought it was a beautiful building.
why was the house torn down instead of sold?
I was *wondering* what was missing when I drove by that corner the other day!
Lesley, you must have been missing the “u honk, we drink” signs…
The building was torn down to make way for a modern four story mixed use building with ground floor retail and 40 residential units above.
“The building was torn down to make way for a modern four story mixed use building with ground floor retail and 40 residential units above.”
hmmm, wonder what the penny lane folks think of that.
i’ve seen two other tear downs this week (one at the corner of college and horsetooth. can’t for the life of me remember where the other one was now.). looks like either things are picking up in FC or people are anticipating things are going to be picking up soon, eh?
Please get your facts straight. First of all, the young woman drank herself to death at Sigma Pi, which is on the opposite side of campus. SAE lost their charter because they did give booze to an underage girl, in violation of dry housing rules, but she did not die.
Second, the lions painted red were done annually to commemorate “Paddy Murphy” days. According to legend, Paddy Murphy was a boozerunner along with Al Capone during prohibition. A government agent shot Paddy Murphy, and as he laid dying, Paddy Murphy gave the agent the “secret brother” handshake. The agent realized what he did – killed a brother. The lions are painted as part of the observance of the week – a celebration of brotherhood and friendships.
http://media.www.avionnewspaper.com/media/storage/paper798/news/2008/03/04/StudentLife/Sigma.Alpha.Epsilon.Remembers.Paddy.Murphy-3250422.shtml
My bad. In my original post someone corrected me and gave me a link about the girl who died. I didn’t follow up closely enough to see it was a different fraternity.