UNA presents Home Improvement Expo

|tab|

by SBJ Staff|ret||ret||tab|

sbj@sbj.net|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

Residents of center-city neighborhoods will be able to explore options for homeownership or improving the homes they already own at the Neighborhood Home Improvement Expo, a first-time event of Urban Neighborhoods Alliance. |ret||ret||tab|

The free event will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 21 at Central Christian Church, which is located at the corner of Washington Avenue and Division Street, according to UNA Executive Director Bob Horton.|ret||ret||tab|

Horton said the expo is designed to become a yearly event for UNA, which serves the Grant Beach, Midtown, Sherman Avenue, West Central and Woodland Heights Neighborhoods. |ret||ret||tab|

"I think being in the center city, it's predominantly older homes, and they require more care than the newer homes," Horton said. "This was just a way to get vendors and residents together ." |ret||ret||tab|

Vendor response for the event has been slow, Horton said, but UNA is looking for roofers, plumbers, electricians, banks, construction companies, community organizations, materials companies and Realtors to participate. |ret||ret||tab|

"My biggest problem has been getting vendors," Horton said. |ret||ret||tab|

The vendor participation fee is $25, he said, and 1,200 flyers about the event will be sent to area residents. |ret||ret||tab|

"It's a fairly inexpensive way to get the exposure that they're going to get," he said. |ret||ret||tab|

With all of the commercial and development activity going on in center city, including Jordan Valley Park, Horton said the urban lifestyle is becoming something that people want to be part of, and the expo is one way for UNA to promote the urban lifestyle to the general public.|ret||ret||tab|

"Our two biggest goals are to increase homeownership in the five center-city neighborhoods and to improve the housing stock, so this very much goes along with our goals," Horton said. |ret||ret||tab|

"If you had bought a commercial building (in center city) 15 years ago and wanted to sell it today, you could get filthy rich. And I think the same thing is going to be true of the neighborhoods, if people haven't invested and they want to, or if they have invested and they take care of their property and fix up their property, then it's going to do nothing but increase the value of the property and make the neighborhood much more desirable to live in." Seminars at the expo will highlight issues and opportunities with center-city living. Topics will include home buyer education, historic tax credits and the UNA/city of Springfield Below Market Home Remodeling Loan Program, which is administered by UMB Bank.|ret||ret||tab|

Through the loan program, people can borrow money at 3 percent interest in order to remodel their homes. |ret||ret||tab|

Only about eight loans have been made through the program, but UNA hopes to boost interest, Horton said. |ret||ret||tab|

"We don't know if it's because they don't know about it ," Horton said. "(But) people can re-roof their houses, they can put new plumbing or air conditioning in their houses. They can fix their gutters. They can do anything that improves their houses, and they can get a loan between $2,500 and $25,000, and it's (at) 3 percent." |ret||ret||tab|

Vendors have until Aug. 17 to sign up to participate in the Neighborhood Home Improvement Expo. |ret||ret||tab|

Registration and information is available by contacting Urban Neighborhoods Alliance. |ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]