THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701270051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 80 lines
Neatly placed potted plants and hand-crafted wreaths are arranged every few doors among the rows of boarded up and faded yellow, blue and green townhouses - an indication that some residents of Chesapeake Townhouses still take pride in their community.
About 70 families are left in the neighborhood of 152 units, once part of an ambitious program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help low-income residents become homeowners. But the owners' cooperative defaulted on its mortgage about seven years ago, and most of the homes are in disrepair.
HUD now is looking to the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority to take over the neighborhood tucked between George Washington and Military highways, rehabilitate the homes and develop programs to help its residents gain skills and employment.
The city agency plans to gain control of the property by April or May by submitting a rehab plan and paying the $1 asking price to HUD. HUD then plans to offer grants of up to $8 million for such things as paint, reinforced floors and new cabinets in the homes, said Amy M. Morrell, interim executive director of the authority.
The city agency, which hired engineers and architects from Glenn & Sadler to design the new neighborhood, also plans a new community center that offers computer lessons and job skills training. Other amenities such as day care services, playgrounds and recreational facilities and senior and health-care programs may be included once residents are consulted about their preferences, said Margaret E. Freeman, the authority's resident initiatives specialist. The services may also be opened to a neighboring community.
``These cabinets are about 2 feet tall, kind of small,'' said William S. Wills, a Glenn & Sadler architect, during a walk-through of some of the homes Friday. ``We could make them bigger and give the residents an extra shelf. We may build an island to make the space more useful.''
Wills opened closets and pulled back sheets tacked over windows to take a look at the job that awaits him. The project will not just pay for new floors and appliances but will provide modern amenities, he said, like new outdoor storage and patios and better insulation and windows.
For people like Florence Sawyer, a 17-year resident who appears to need no help maintaining a neatly kept house, the rehab project means she'll ``get some nice neighbors,'' she said.
``I don't go further than from the house to the car now,'' Sawyer said. ``I don't know many neighbors. I don't know if it's safe at night, and it starts looking slummy when the houses are boarded up.''
Sawyer lives with her husband, son, grandson and 90-year-old mother-in-law. She plans to move to one of the units remodeled to include a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor.
``My mother-in-law is in better health than I'm in, but she can't walk up and down stairs,'' Sawyer said.
The project is expected to take 15 months once the ownership is shifted to the city's housing authority and a design is completed. Residents likely will be moved into renovated homes as they are completed.
While the HUD grants to cities to renovate low-income housing are not new - Norfolk won one last year - this is the first project of its kind for Chesapeake. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MORT FRYMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Architect William S. Wills, left, along with Chesapeake
Redevelopment and Housing Authority employees Margaret E. Freeman,
Richard T. Bartlett and Amy M. Morrell, look at the rundown
playground at Chesapeake Townhouses.
MORT FRYMAN photos
The Virginian-Pilot
William S. Wills, a Glenn & Sadler architect, looks at the work to
be done in a deteriorated kitchen in one of the 152 units at
Chesapeake Townhouses.
Florence Sawyer, a 17-year resident of Chesapeake Townhouses, hopes
the rehab project will bring nicer neighbors into the community and
result in a remodeled unit with a first-floor bedroom and bath to
aid her 90-year-old mother-in-law.