DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100630

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   80 lines

PORTSMOUTH GETS $24.9 MILLION FOR IDA BARBOUR REVITALIZATION

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday informed the city that it is receiving $24.9 million in Hope VI grant money for Ida Barbour's revitalization.

Since the inception of the $59 million Ida Barbour revitalization project, Portsmouth has been banking on the grant, which will help ``turn a dream into reality, '' according to Vice Mayor Johnny Clemons.

The allocation to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority was announced by HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo in a telephone press conference that included both of Virginia's senators, John W. Warner and Charles S. Robb, as well as congressmen Norman Sisisky and Bobby Scott, both of whom represent the city.

``Portsmouth deserves a lot of credit for this,'' Sisisky said. ``They put a lot of thought into how they could encourage home ownership and stimulate the local economy. I see this grant as a statement of confidence in Portsmouth's plans for the future.''

Clemons, the City Council liaison with the Ida Barbour project, sat in for Mayor James Holley, who is out of town.

``This is a reason to celebrate,'' Clemons said. ``This grant will transform the heart of our community.''

About 125 cities applied for a piece of the $447 million Hope VI appropriation this year. Portsmouth was one of 26 cities chosen to receive some of the money and was the smallest city on the list. Richmond received a $26.9 Hope VI grant to revitalize its Blackwell public housing development.

In addition to the Hope VI federal money, Portsmouth will use about $34 million in state and local government funds and private contributions to complete the project.

The goal is to transform a poor and crime-stricken public housing neighborhood into a safe community of new housing occupied by self-sufficient, low- to middle-income citizens.

``We are hoping to teach the nation something about the urban housing problem,'' said Danny Cruce, PRHA's director. ``Public housing is a failed program of the federal government. We will use a holistic approach to turn around not only the area but the people who live there now.''

He added that some residents are skeptical about the promises because ``historically when public housing has been torn down, there has been nothing to replace it.''

None of the public housing units will be razed until one section of the new housing has been built. The new housing is going up on the site of an old school building, adjacent to Ida Barbour, that also will be torn down.

Cruce said the school should be taken down and that construction on new housing should begin within 90 days.

Programs already under way in Ida Barbour will provide tenants with education and jobs when they complete training. The residents, in turn, will be required to sign contracts stating their commitment to the community and to work.

Residents who choose to participate also will be able to buy new homes that will be constructed on the property with the assistance of PRHA and several rent-to-own programs.

``But no one will be left out,'' Clemons said Thursday.

Those who do not wish to participate in the community educational programs can move to another public housing area or they can receive a Section 8 voucher that will pay their rent in private housing. The vouchers also can be used to rent one of the new homes at Ida Barbour, and some of the money will be put into escrow as a down payment for the residents.

In another grant, Portsmouth received about $6 million in new Section 8 money from the federal government to be used for the revitalization.

``The thing that enticed me about this project was that it has something positive to offer people,'' Clemons said. ``You're going to see more than bulldozers here.''

The revitalization project is part of the city's Vision 2005 community and economic development plan.

``The Ida Barbour footprint has had a negative imprint on a large area in this city,'' Cruce said. ``The revitalization should trigger commercial reinvestment in the area around Ida Barbour.'' ILLUSTRATION: TAMARA VONINSKI/File photo

Portsmouth has been banking on the federal grant since the inception

of the $59 million project. Once the housing is completed, residents

will be offered the chance to buy their homes through a special

program. KEYWORDS: GRANT IDA BARBOUR FUNDING REVITALIZATION

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