DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997                 TAG: 9703090143

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BATTINTO BATTS JR., STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:  173 lines

THE IDA BARBOUR EXPERIMENT AS PORTSMOUTH ROLLS OUT A $50 MILLION PLAN TO RAZE A CRIME-STRICKEN PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX AND BUILD NEW HOUSES THAT RESIDENTS CAN EARN, ONE THING IS CERTAIN: IF THE GAMBLE PAYS OFF, THE CITY WILL SET A NATIONAL STANDARD FOR HELPING WELFARE RECIPIENTS TOWARD HOME OWNERSHIP.

Tear down a decaying group of public housing apartments and replace it with new homes. Give the community's residents a chance at ownership by providing them job training and personal finance skills. Make them sign a contract vowing a commitment to community development, education and work.

It's a $50 million experiment that's never been tried anywhere else. And city officials admit they aren't sure about the outcome. But they believe it is a rare opportunity to transform Ida Barbour Housing Park from a poverty- and crime-stricken neighborhood into a community of low-to-medium incomes and self-sufficient people.

The first step in the plan takes place Monday night when the City Council holds a public hearing to consider the rezoning needed to begin the revitalization. A final public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday's council meeting.

If the rezoning is approved as expected, the rest of Hampton Roads and the nation will watch as Portsmouth carries out the experiment.

And if Portsmouth's effort succeeds, similar plans may be adopted elsewhere as welfare reform sweeps the nation and cities look for ways to transform large public housing complexes. Portsmouth received the $50 million for the pilot project from the federal government as part of the Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 1997.

In Hampton Roads, however, there are likely to be few quick imitators.

Norfolk, which has nine public housing communities and demographics similar to Portsmouth's, is the only other city in the area that would appear to be in a position to duplicate the program. Chesapeake and Suffolk have small concentrations of public housing, and Virginia Beach has none.

Norfolk housing officials have expressed a desire to refurbish their public housing complexes rather than demolish them, as is being proposed for Ida Barbour. Still, the Norfolk housing authority will be watching the Ida Barbour program closely.

``We have discussed the idea of trying to enhance the physical environment of public housing,'' said Ray Strutton, assistant executive director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. ``We would be interested to see what would happen in Portsmouth. We want to learn from what they are doing. We would like to see if there are parts of their program that we can use to enhance our own developments.''

Performing well under the nation's microscope won't be easy, Portsmouth officials admit. There are a number of variables that must fall into place for the Ida Barbour revitalization to work as planned.

To participate in the program, residents must sign a contract stating their commitment to community development, education and work. The housing authority will provide tenants with the education and training to compete for jobs they'll need to eventually afford to own their home in the neighborhood.

Convincing residents to join the program may be difficult, said Danny Cruce, director of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing and Authority. It will require changing the mind-set of people who, for years, have relied on the public's assistance.

``It is our goal to provide every one of the residents the opportunity to receive an education and training for employment and home ownership,'' Cruce said. ``That is a huge challenge. But what is the alternative? All we can do is provide the opportunity and the tools.''

Ida Barbour residents do have an option. They can leave the community and take something called a ``Section 8 voucher'' from the housing authority that will help pay for most or all of the cost of rent elsewhere.

Those who want to stay in Ida Barbour and work toward ownership but who can't afford the cost of a down payment will be able to use those Section 8 vouchers to rent one of the new homes. A portion of their rent will be set aside to help with a future down payment. Residents will have up to 15 years to establish the income and reserves they will need to own a home.

During that time, the Portsmouth housing authority will provide eight case workers who will help train and educate the residents so they can compete for well-paying jobs.

The availability of those jobs, though, is an element of the plan that is admittedly beyond the authority's control. Training will not assure tenants of a job. Although Portsmouth is making an economic turnaround and businesses are relocating to the city, it still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the region.

Cruce said employment uncertainties might influence some public housing residents not to take a chance on becoming homeowners and to instead move into another apartment with the city's assistance.

But even that will be considered a victory by the authority, Cruce said.

``Those that choose not to participate will improve their living conditions,'' he said, ``and, in the long run, their children will not be living in poverty.''

Seeking to lay the groundwork for the plan, city officials have been meeting with Ida Barbour's residents over the past year to discuss their concerns. Cruce said the majority of the residents are excited about the opportunity to get off public assistance and support themselves.

``You still have a lot of good people out here, but the environment is unlivable,'' said Louis Ruffin, chairman of the Ida Barbour Resident Advisory Board. ``Most of the good people would like a change. It is a way to get rid of the undesirables.''

Ruth Holman, 83, has lived in Ida Barbour for 38 years. She, too, wants to see the neighborhood improved.

Although she admits home ownership is probably out of reach at her age, Holman says she knows her neighbors are eager to participate.

``I think a lot of them out here would want to become a homeowner,'' Holman said. ``But it is according to your finances. It is pretty tight on people that don't have much income.''

Bill Thomas, a local political activist, wonders if the city is unfairly raising residents' hopes.

The 40-acre housing complex sits just a few blocks from Portsmouth's downtown and the upscale Olde Towne neighborhood. Revitalizing Ida Barbour is part of the city's Vision 2005 plan, a comprehensive initiative to pump life back into Portsmouth's decaying neighborhoods and business districts.

Thomas supports Portsmouth's effort to revitalize Ida Barbour.

``I think you need to break up large concentrations of public housing,'' he said. ``Ida Barbour has presented a very negative image on the city of Portsmouth, as any low-income impoverished community has.''

But Thomas fears that the majority of the residents will take a look at the hurdle they face toward home ownership and opt to move elsewhere. The housing they receive via Section 8 won't compare to that in the new Ida Barbour, he said, which more affluent people will then occupy.

Thomas said the city should remain honest with the residents.

``I would be hard-pressed to see how they are going to be able to have a three-bedroom house when their credit is bad or slow and there is no history of income,'' he said. ``There is no bank in this country that is going to give them a mortgage. For PRHA not to tell these people that they should be looking for permanent housing elsewhere is an outrage. They are just lying to the people.''

Strutton, the assistant housing director for Norfolk, also wonders how many people in Ida Barbour will become homeowners.

``Realistically, it is not going to be a high percentage of families that take that route,'' he said. ``One of the biggest hurdles residents have to overcome psychologically when going into the private market is that they have to pay their own utilities. One of the underlying fears is that they have to be responsible for all that.

``It is not simply having a home now, it is being prepared financially and being prepared psychologically for independent living.''

Cruce said breaking up concentrations of poor people is critical if Portsmouth hopes to revive itself.

``That is our intent,'' he said. ``High density and large populations of poverty are not beneficial to the locality or the residents living there.''

Cruce said PRHA will provide interested residents the support they need to make the transition from public housing tenants to homeowners.

``All we can do is provide the opportunity and the tools,'' he said.

Portsmouth Vice Mayor Johnny Clemons, the City Council liaison to the Vision 2005 citizens committee working on the revitalization, said he is sure the people of Ida Barbour will be dealt with fairly.

``That's why it is under the 2005 process, so that black people are not shortchanged and shifted from one part of town to another,'' he said. ``It is to provide safeguards so it doesn't happen like it has everywhere else.

``Once (the residents) fully understand how it is going to work and that they are not going to be out in the cold, they are really pleased. I think they are excited about Ida Barbour being dealt with in a positive way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot

From left to right, Rodney Cross, 17, Brian Davis, 17, and Chris

Murray, 20, shoot hoops in a courtyard at Ida Barbour. The city's

plans call for the complex to be razed, and residents will be able

to sign contracts allowing them to earn the homes that will be

built on the site.

Photos

TAMARA VONINSKI/The Virginian-Pilot

The Ida Barbour public housing park will soon be razed in favor of

newer units, which current residents will have an opportunity to

own.

Louis Ruffin, chairman of the Ida Barbour Advisory Board, calls the