SHAMOKIN - Shamokin Housing Authority's Madison Court apartment building will be completely gutted next spring and undergo a $6.4 million renovation project to transform it into a new building inside an old shell.
Renovations are expected to begin as early as April 2016.
Ron Miller, executive director, hopes construction will be completed within a year.
"We're only going to retain the outside walls; everything else will be new," Miller said Thursday. He toured the building at Shamokin and Commerce streets, formerly Center City Apartments, with state Sen. John Gordner (R-27) and members of both the housing authority and the Greater Shamokin Development Corp., a private entity.
Funding is possible through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's low-income tax credit program, which approved $550,000 credits to begin the project. Institutions that purchase the credits receive "a dollar for dollar reduction" in federal taxes, according to the PHFA website. The authority was turned down for the program in 2014 but was accepted earlier this year.
The building will have an income limit, which Miller estimated at $31,000, but the limit will be set through PHFA.
Tenants currently occupy 30 of the 34 available apartments. All tenants will be temporarily relocated while the entire five-story building is under construction. Miller said housing vouchers will be offered, and vacancies will be explored at other authority properties such as the Raspberry Hill complex and the Harold E. Thomas Highrise.
The narrow lobby space will be restored to an original look, Miller said. Two front-of-building apartments will be eliminated, opening up a wide lobby area. The rear of the first floor had been office space and, decades ago, was the owner's quarters. That space will become a pair of handicap apartments, with handicap parking established on the southern lawn near the railroad tracks. All other apartments will be upgraded to meet modern handicap code.
The apartments will receive new flooring, walls, ceilings and fixtures. Upgrades are planned to the buildings utility infrastructure. When complete, there will be 32 apartments, two less than at present. The entire building will be smoke-free. UpStreet Architects, Indiana, Pa., will design the plans, Miller said, and Mullin and Lonergan Associates, Camp Hill, will serve as project consultants.
Miller said he's been in touch with the local pipefitters and electricians unions, and pledged "as many locals as feasible" would be hired.
If the Madison Court renovation is a success, Miller said the authority and development corporation, which share a pair of members, would pursue other housing projects. He mentioned reviving a plan to create veteran-preferred housing at the site of the decrepit Shroyer building, and blight removal as a whole.
"We have a project, we have a board that's viable, and we can move forward with other projects in the city," Miller said.
Gordner expressed support for the project, and said it would be a positive for building tenants and the city of Shamokin.
Shamokin Housing Authority members are Suzanne Kopitsky, Malcolm Farrow, James Picarelli, Pamala Rhoades and Donald VanShura. Members of the Greater Shamokin Development Corp. are Farrow and Picarelli, Frank Zalar, Robert E. Milbrand and Sylvia Shappell. Miller credited former authority chairman Raymond G. Splane for kickstarting the project years ago.
