Vacant Kappa Sigma house to be demolished

An 80-year-old house used by the Kappa Sigma fraternity and visited by musician and IU alumnus Hoagy Carmichael might be demolished.\nThe house, at 1503 E. Third St., east of Lambda Chi Alpha, was built for Kappa Sigma in 1926.\nIU bought the house in 1964, and it has not been used for about 10 years.\nUniversity officials have, in the past, considered using the house for offices or other University functions, but it was deemed too expensive to \nrenovate the house.\nThere is not currently any plan for the land the house occupies, but there are several Greek organizations without a house, and the land could be used for a new fraternity or sorority house.\nCarmichael, a Bloomington native and IU graduate, grew up accompanying his mother to fraternity parties and silent movies, where she played piano, according to http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/hoagy/, an IU Web site dedicated to cataloging the Hoagy Carmichael collection. He learned how to play piano and started a jazz group, Carmichael's Collegians. The group played on- and off-campus as far away as Ohio, according to the site. After receiving a law degree from IU, he started recording original compositions in the late 1920s, and became a famous composer. He died in 1981.\nThough he was a member of Kappa Sigma, Carmichael never lived in the house, as it was under construction while he was a student. Kappa Sigma moved into the house several months after he graduated.\nIU honored Carmichael by naming the Hoagy Carmichael Room in Morrison Hall after him. The room contains memorabilia for his life and career, donated by the Carmichael family.\nKappa Sigma is building a new house which is expected to be completed around April 1.