Members of the Delta Upsilon fraternity got an unexpected wake-up call at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, when a van careened out of control on St. George Street and smashed into their front porch.

“All of a sudden, wham! The whole house shook,” said Rob Gouge, a member of the frat and, as of yesterday, its new president.

The driver of the van was an unidentified 47 year-old male who, according to reports, had either a seizure or a heart attack at the wheel while driving south on St. George Street. He was taken to St. Michael’s hospital with skull fractures, but has recovered. The van had New York licence plates and apparently did not belong to the driver.

“It was our annual Christmas dinner the night before,” said Gouge, so some guests and alumni were actually camped out in the front room of the house when the van hit.

“They had a really rude awakening that morning,” Gouge said. He added that Delta Upsilon’s members were not happy with news reports of the incident, particularly one in the Toronto Sun which made reference to “drunken, hungover frat boys.” Gouge said that far from being a wild party the night before, the Christmas dinner was a catered affair and alumni were invited for the banquet.

The damage to the house is estimated at $100,000, but Gouge said that coordination of repairs is taking longer than expected because the house is a heritage building.

182 St. George was built in 1911, and Delta Upsilon receives a small annual allowance from the City of Toronto to maintain the building. Repairs to the solid limestone porch must therefore be supervised by heritage building experts.

“They’re going to reconstruct it using the same stone,” said Gouge, “but it’s taking a while.” At the moment, the collapsed section of the porch is still sitting in the front flowerbed, and wooden scaffolding is holding up its roof.

“They haven’t even moved the debris yet,” said Gouge. “It’s just lying there.”

Delta Upsilon is home to 15 residents, most of whom are full-time students at U of T (several go to Ryerson). Gouge said he’d like the restoration done before the spring, when the frat recruits new members.

“I hope they can fix it up soon,” he said, “because it’s a heritage building.”