SPRINGVALE — One year ago, the house at 24 Howard St. was stripped down to the boards. Students and their instructors were hammering and sawing, making the old house bandbox new again.
Besides the front porch, students from Sanford Regional Technical Center replaced the roof, installed new windows, and more. After the school year came to a close, contractors came in to finish the job.
The rehab is now complete ”“ it has been for a awhile ”“ and the Sanford Housing Authority is renting the property. The rental income, along with income from two other properties the housing agency decided to rent, instead of sell, will be put back into an account to be used for future projects, said SHA Director Bill Keefer.
The rehab at 24 Howard St. was among more than two dozen completed by three agencies: York County Community Action Corporation, York County Shelters and Sanford Housing Authority, under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
Sanford was among the Maine municipalities selected for NSP because at the time the federal program was announced several years ago, the municipality had the highest rate of foreclosures in the state. Waterboro was included because of the high foreclosure rate there. The Sanford and Waterboro area was initially awarded $2.42 million through the NSP program and a year later, the consortium was notified of an additional $1 million award. The program has now wound down.
SHA commissioner Kim LaChance said the Neighborhood Stabilization Program has put properties back on the tax rolls ”“ many of them foreclosed properties ”“ and helped upgrade neighborhoods.
“(It has) provided new housing opportunities, and made Sanford-Springvale a place we continue to be proud of,” LaChance said.
Jen Gordon, who heads the housing program at York County Community Action Corporation, one of the three agencies that bought, rehabbed and sold homes, agreed.
“Boy, don’t I wish we had some of that money now,” to work with, she said. “It was good for these neighborhoods.”
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].
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