1702 Gordon Avenue
1702 Gordon Avenue has been our chapter house since 1958. The building was constructed in two phases. In 1891, Thomas T. Wood built a private home on three lots facing 17th Street. The initial house had two stories and a finished attic. In 1902, this home was sold to the Bidgood family. Around 1910, the Bidgoods added an extension along Gordon Avenue with two stories and no attic. This extension brought 1702 Gordon Avenue to its present size. The building was eventually purchased by the Walker family, who ran a boarding house there before selling the property to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity in 1952.
The Column Club
The fraternity recruited Bob Musselman, a Commerce School instructor, attorney, and accountant as their faculty advisor. In 1951, Bob formed the Column Club Inc., a Virginia non-stock corporation, which then purchased 163 Chancellor Street to be our chapter house.
In 1954, the Column Club fraternity was granted the dormant charter for Psi Chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa, which had been inactive at UVA since 1935. In 1958, the Column Club sold the Chancellor Street house and purchased 1702 Gordon Avenue. The Column Club continues to serve as the house corporation for our chapter to this day. It is operated by a five-person board of directors, all of whom are Psi chapter alumni or current students serving on a voluntary basis.
Plans for the Future
We are in the early stages of developing a renovation plan for our house. We have hired a local architectural firm with fraternity renovation experience to perform a concept study for the renovation of our chapter house. Our ultimate objective is to create a compelling facility that is a safe and functional home for Psi chapter. To that end, we hope to increase the building’s occupancy with a maximum number of single rooms, create larger open spaces for fraternity activities, and overhaul the building’s aging physical plant. Multiple options will be explored, including a renovation within the current building envelope, expansion of the third floor, and construction of an extension to the existing building. We look forward to sharing the results of this study with you in the near future.