House on North Main gets makeover

UNA was a partner with the city of Springfield and Great Southern Community Development Corp. in another home-rehab project at 1510 N. Grant. That house is now on the market. The North Main project is the first rehabilitation that UNA has undertaken on its own.

“A gentleman called and told me he would like to donate the house (on North Main) to us, so the board decided to accept this house,” said UNA Executive Director Bob Horton.

The house was last used as a triplex.

“You could tell that transients had lived there. There was trash, boxes, old beat-up furniture, and the first thing we did was get everything out of that house,” Horton said.

UNA will restore the house as a single-family dwelling. A contractor’s loan for an undisclosed amount through UMB Bank will pay for new plumbing and electrical systems, heating and air, appliances and interior remodeling.

“It will be a brand-new house in an old package,” said Tom Dornan, the UNA board member acting as construction coordinator.

And the project will get some hands-on assistance from the community. Workers from the Court Alternative Sentencing Program – which Horton serves as a member of its board of directors – are working on the interior demolition. Specifically, CASP workers are tearing out the ceilings, dismantling walls and gutting the inside of the five-bedroom, three-bath house.

“We thought we could supply some free labor to hold his expenses down when remodeling this home,” said Chris Sidwell, special projects coordinator and probation officer with CASP.

Horton hopes to be able to work with Ozarks Technical Community College’s construction technology classes for some of the work, which would provide labor for the project and hands-on experience for the students.

Air Services has provided a discount on heating and air, and Seminole Paint and Décor has provided the interior paint. When the project is finished in the next six to seven months, it will be put up for sale with a $140,000 price tag, with the proceeds to go for a housing center within the UNA office. The center, Horton said, would offer assistance to individuals who want to be successful renters or homeowners.

UNA serves the Grant Beach, Midtown, Sherman Avenue, West Central and Woodlands Heights neighborhoods. The organization promotes the revitalization of center-city neighborhoods, functioning as both a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit and as a community development corporation under the Missouri Department of Economic Development. [[In-content Ad]]