In a less than 15 minute meeting, the West Lafayette City Council tabled an ordinance Monday evening to designate the former Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house as a historic site, pushing the decision back to May.
Ordinance 14-22, submitted to the council by the Historic Preservation Commission and Department of Development, would protect the house at 314 Russell Street from demolition by PCM Properties LLC, the owner of the land the house sits on.
“I promise this is the last time,” City Council President Peter Bunder said. “It’s been 6 months? 7 months? Something like that.”
The debate to preserve the house has been raging since 2021, with a proposal coming before the council in June 2022. The ordinance has been tabled at every city council meeting since then.
The request to postpone the decision was submitted by KJG Architecture, a development firm which seeks to renovate and preserve the century-old building.
Bunder said KJG requested the postponement after not being able to formulate a renovation plan in time to submit to the council. He hopes a final decision will be made in May.
