Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 7, 1994 TAG: 9405090140
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the power saws have stopped, as have the banging of hammers, the noisy interruption of construction.
A $2.3 million renovation is finished.
No longer will residents have to open their windows in the middle of winter to cool off overheated apartments. Temperatures once controlled from one location now can be adjusted in each apartment.
Tiny second-story pop-out windows - "firetraps," one resident called them - have been replaced with larger ones with sliding glass panels.
Walls that surrounded areas where residents hung their clothes to dry - and where drug dealers congregated - have been torn down.
Bricks have been repointed, walls repainted, tile floors installed, kitchen cabinets refinished, shrubbery planted, screen doors replaced, graffiti removed. The Hurt Park Teen Health Clinic more resembles a physician's office.
"The whole neighborhood has gotten a face lift," said Donna Davis Jones, president of the Hurt Park Resident Council.
The Hurt Park renovation is the last to be funded under the federal Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program, said Jim Mihalik, construction department administrator for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The authority owns and operates Roanoke's 11 public housing developments.
The program has funded big-ticket public housing renovations in Roanoke over the years. It has been replaced with the Comprehensive Grant Program, which funds numerous smaller-scale projects, Mihalik said.
"We're shifting gears," he said. "Instead of soup to nuts, we're targeting specific items. And instead of multimillion-dollar projects, projects will be in the $100,000 to $300,000 range."
Scaling down will offer better control of renovation and more latitude with work, Mihalik said.
"We can keep a lot of things ongoing, instead of waiting for a giant nest egg to dole out to one development," he said.
Hurt Park is much like any neighborhood. The turnover may be higher, and residents may not claim ownership of their dwellings, but it is a community in which those who call it home hold pride.
"We have generations of families here," said Jones, who has lived in Hurt Park, off and on, for 12 years. "We're comfortable here. When you're comfortable in an area and you have to leave, it's like leaving your family. I left and came back."
The renovation has provided a community boost.
Michael Craft, 24, dipped a sponge into sudsy water and wiped a clean streak across the new front windows of his apartment. He has lived in Hurt Park for 10 years. Lately, he says, he has sensed some change.
"Maybe a year ago, the people, I don't know, it was different," Craft said. "But it's all right here now."
Craft roped off his front yard - two patchy areas of grass - to prevent people from tramping through. He simply wants to keep it nice, he says.
Marie Jones, Donna's mother, has lived in Hurt Park for 18 years. She used to sit up nights "listening for things to happen," she said.
"Now, it's just sometimes," Jones said. "I think the improvements have got a lot to do with it. I think people are going to try to keep this a nice place."
There still are things that need to be repaired or built, Donna Jones said.
Structural damage - mostly from termites - cost more than what had been set aside for repair work, said Percy Cunningham, maintenance foreman for the housing authority.
"It ate into the money," he said. "We've taken care of it, but we didn't get countertops or back splashes for kitchens."
The community wants a playground for children and a grassy field marked for softball games, Jones said.
"But people seem to be pleased," Jones said. "I've heard good things. The only other thing I hear people say they want is cable. But that will probably be a few years down the road."
Renovation of the Hurt Park public housing community will be celebrated today at its annual Springfest. The event, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will feature games, music, food, fun and health activities. The resident council will hold an open house for the new Neighborhood Action Center.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***