News from Mobile Historic Development Commission

MHDC ENews: September 2009 Volume 1 Number 3

Greetings!

The Mobile Historic Development Commission is back at work after our traditional summer recess. With great preservation issues facing us this coming year, the Commission members are renewing our dedication to saving historic structures in Mobile and protecting our neighborhoods. On the horizon we see an exciting and challenging year ahead of us. We want all of you to be a part of this.

Join us as we advocate for the restoration of Barton Academy. Be a part of the continued revitalization of historic downtown by supporting downtown's businesses and events. And do something as simple as taking your children to one of our historic museums. Be a part of preservation. Everyone's participation counts.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grant Awarded to Mobile

The MHDC staff has been working tirelessly this year to apply for grants that will assist in the redevelopment of our historic and traditional neighborhoods. One such grant was the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Round 1 Grant. Keri Coumanis, MHDC assistant director, and Melissa Thomas, assistant city attorney worked tirelessly on this project. Through their efforts, Mobile was awarded $2,000,000 that has been divided into $450,000 awards between four non-profit organizations.

The NSP1 grant, a Housing and Urban Development grant, is administered by ADECA. The funds will be used for neighborhood stabilization by purchasing foreclosed and abandoned properties in destabilizing and high foreclosure areas and readying them for resale.

The organizations receiving portions of the NSP grant money are Mobile Historic Development Commission dba Restore Mobile; Housing First, an organization that champions homeless issues; Mobile Community Action, working in Prichard; and Bay Area Women's Coalition, working in Trinity Gardens.

Restore Mobile will use the NSP grant funds to purchase foreclosure properties, do minor renovation work to the houses, and re-sell the properties to homeowners in an effort to save historic homes and to help provide affordable housing within our traditional neighborhoods.

NSP1 funds will be used by the MHDC in the southern boundaries of the Oakleigh Garden District, Leinkauf Historic District, Oakdale, The Campground, The Bottom, MLK area, and DeTonti Square Historic District.

By partnering with other agencies, the MHDC is making new strides in preservation and the redevelopment of Mobile.

Editor's Note

MHDC is currently applying for grant money to fund surveying Oakdale this coming year.

NSP Round 2 - A Waiting Game

MHDC assistant director, Keri Coumanis, and assistant city attorney Melissa Thomas teamed up again to prepare and submit a grant application for Round 2 of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program this summer. The grant, which will be awarded by HUD, will provide $24 million in grant money that can be used to purchase vacant land that has been abandoned through tax sale or foreclosure. The NSP2 grant is a highly-competitive, highly sought-after, national grant competition that will be awarded by HUD in November.

The grant plan submitted by Mobile to HUD overlaps the New Plan for Old Mobile; and targets neighborhoods located near downtown, the port, and aeronautic industries, all areas where our workforce need affordable housing. The plan includes:

Acquiring 156 parcels
Acquiring one multi-family structure
Rehabilitate 70 foreclosed structures
Construct 86 new housing units that will be infill for vacant lots
Improve market absorption of tax sale properties which has been nearly 0%
Provide attractive, affordable, sustainable housing for low, moderate and middle income families
Provide thorough financial counseling for sustainability
Provide leasing and mortgage options for sustainability

"We are looking at acquiring and redeveloping tax sale properties mainly in The Bottom/ Campground and Oakdale/Maysville neighborhoods." explains Coumanis. "HUD wants to see projects which stabilize and redevelop neighborhoods close to employment centers, educational opportunities and city centers. These neighborhoods provide just that opportunity. As both Brookley and the shipyards expand, the redevelopment of vacant homes will provide excellent opportunities for housing, while preserving these historic neighborhoods."

Grant consortium members include the City of Mobile; Mobile Housing Board; MLK Area Redevelopment Corporation; Bay Area Women's Coalition; Mobile Historic Development Commission; Housing First, Inc.; Center for Fair Housing; and Volunteers of America.

Auburn University will also partner with the City of Mobile to donate design work for sustainable houses and site planning. HUD strongly encourages the development of 'green buildings' with NSP2 funds.

Recently Senator Jeff Sessions wrote a letter in support of the grant.

Information on the grant status will be forthcoming. The grant recipients will be announced in November.

ARB at a Glance

The Architectural Review Board is continuing to work hard to protect our historic districts. Here is a look at their body of work so far this year.

October 2008 through July 2009

Total Applications - 234

Applications Approved by Staff- 197

Applications Reviewed by ARB - 124

Applications Approved by ARB - 93

Applications Tabled by ARB - 14

Applications Denied by ARB- 15

Applications Withdrawn - 3

Applications in Design Committee - 2

Applicants estimate the proposed job costs for renovations and improvement to homes and buildings in districts under the Architectural Review Board's jurisdiction will cost an estimated $18,292,402. This figure also reflects the time period beginning October 1, 2008 and continuing through July, 2009. These improvement figures are one of the many tell-tell signs that prove preservation continues to strengthen property values within Mobile's historic districts.

For more information on the Architectural Review Board, and for a schedule of meetings, please visit the MHDC website at www.mobilehd.org.

Two Neglected Victorian Cottages Purchased by Restore Mobile

Restore Mobile, a committee of the Mobile Historic Development Commission, has recently purchased two properties in the Oakleigh Garden District. Both houses are circa 1870s Victorian Cottages that were listed on the City's nuisance abatement list.

The first house, 458 Chatham Street, was scheduled to be torn down. The house, which had been burned, was purchased by Restore Mobile and will be stabilized and re-roofed.

454 Chatham Street was also recently purchased. Restore Mobile plans to install a new roof on the cottage, stabilized the rear wall, and seal the house. There is also an inappropriate addition on the back of the house that will be removed, and the lot will be cleaned of debris.

After the stabilization and repair work has been completed, both houses will be for sale. The purpose of Restore Mobile is to purchase historic structures that are in danger of being lost. The program allows for homes to be purchased, stabilized and then sold to buyers who will complete the restoration process. This program is one way the MHDC helps historic neighborhoods with the revitalization process.

For more information on these properties, contact the MHDC office at 208-7281.

Fall Banner and Shield Award Applications Being Accepted

The Marking Committee of the MHDC is now accepting applications for the Fall Banner and Shield Awards. Deadline for application is October 1 and the fall presentations will be given out on December 7 at the biannual Banner and Shield Awards Presentation.

To qualify, a house or building must be located in one of the seven historic districts and be at least 75 years old, or be listed in the National Register of Historic Places and be 50 years old. The building must retain the original architectural character and be well restored or maintained.

For a Banner and Shield application, information on the program, and criteria and application procedure, please visit our website at www.mobilehd.org.

National Trust to meet in Nashville

MHDC Commission members will join the professional staff and head to Nashville this October to attend the National Preservation Conference presented by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The theme of this year's conference is "Sustaining the future in harmony with our past."

Among the guest speakers are honorary chairmen Phil Bresenden, governor of Tennessee and Karl Dean, mayor of Nashville. Conference goers will be treated to presentations by Dame Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust of the United Kingdom who will speak on what the UK is doing in their aggressive effort to make their enormous number of breathtaking historic sites sustainable. Author and American environmentalist Bill McKibben will address the financial revolution facing us, and examine what preservation's role is in this new economy.

Representing the MHDC will be Rennie Brabner, Dora Finley, Douglas Kearley, Celia Lewis, Devereaux Bemis and Keri Coumanis.

The National Preservation Conference will be held from October 13 through October 17. A portion of the costs is being underwritten by a grant from the Sybil H. Smith Charitable Trust. For more information please visit their website at www.preservationnation.org.

Auburn University Partnership Forged

The Mobile Historic Development Commission has entered into a new partnership with Auburn University's College of Architecture, Design and Construction. The partnership will allow students to work with the MHDC to provide sustainable housing and site design support in conjunction with the HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program here in Mobile.

Auburn architectural students will begin working with the MHDC next summer designing homes for new infill construction, following the architectural guidelines and applying new green building practices. The students will have an opportunity to work in historic districts and traditional neighborhood settings, a living laboratory if you will, and be challenged to come up with prototype designs that will be appropriate to each neighborhood.

"This grant will provide an opportunity to work across architectural disciplines and build capacity of our students to understand and evaluate real world issues related to improving sustainability and quality of life in Alabama," stated Karen L. Rogers, Ph.D., Associate Dean for External Affairs and Graduate Studies.

Auburn faculty members Charlene Lebleu, ASLA, AICP, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture; Christian Dagg, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Professor of Interior Architecture; and Justin Miller, AIA, LEED AP, Assistant Professor of Architecture will be heading the project for Auburn. Both Dagg and Miller are graduates of Harvard University.

The MHDC is hopeful that grant money from the NSP2 funds will be awarded to Mobile and can be used for the infill construction. More information on the grant awards will be coming.

Betbeze to Chair Barton Academy Committee

School System Superintendent Roy Nichols has recommended to the Mobile County Public School Board that Jaime Betbeze serve as Chairman of the Barton Academy Historic Preservation and Restoration Committee. Betbeze is past president and a member of the Mobile Historic Development Commission and a member of Historic Mobile Preservation Society. He and his family live in the Oakleigh Garden District. Betbeze has been dedicated to the restoration of Barton since the efforts to save the historic structure began.

Barton Academy was built in the 1830s and housed Alabama's first public school. The structure was named by the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation as one of 12 Places in Peril for the past two years.

Pillars of the Community to open with both a book signing and a fundraiser for Barton Academy