Grant Funds Will Improve Apartment Units

12/15/2003 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Steven Fischer
845-331-1955

Grants of $1.3 Million to Upgrade Housing Stock

Kingston Housing Authority to improve more than 100 apartment units.


Kingston, NY -- December 15, 2003 -- Some of Kingston’s oldest apartment buildings will get major upgrades next year thanks to grants of more than $1.3 million announced this week by the Kingston Housing Authority. More than 100 families will enjoy improvements to their homes when projects funded by the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation are completed.
Apartments at Colonial Gardens, the flagship complex of the Kingston Housing Authority (KHA) will get the lion’s share of the funding according to Executive Director Steven Fischer, who hopes to also do improvements at Wiltwyck Gardens with some of the funding. “These grants have been a long time coming,” said Fischer, “We are thankful to have received them and pledge their good use.”
Noting that Colonial Gardens apartments are 50 years old this year, Fischer said the willingness of the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal to reinvest in them, “is a real tribute to the on going maintenance of the properties by both residents and staff.” Wiltwyck Gardens, KHA’s second oldest complex, will be 38 years old next year. “Both of these properties look better than the day they were built,” Fischer added. But he noted that mechanical and electrical systems designed for the 1950s and 1960s are inadequate for the demands of the 21st century. “These properties were not designed to accommodate the air conditioners, computers, TV’s and dozens of other appliances that have proliferated over the years,” Fisher said.
The comprehensive modernization program funded by the grant will cover electrical upgrading, lead and asbestos testing and abatement work, exterior doors, some site work and limited mechanical work. Though KHA has, and continues, to do much of this work from its own reserve funds, the magnitude of the upgrades and the necessity to do them all in one project made the grant funding essential to the effort.
“In some communities, they are tearing down complexes this old. That the state is reinvesting in ours is a testament to 50 years worth of efforts,” Fischer said. He thanked State Housing Commissioner Judith Calogero for her department’s understanding of the Kingston needs and credited Assemblyman Kevin Cahill and with the push that resulted in the end of year award. “Without his support and cooperation we might not be planning these projects now.”
Cahill, a long-term supporter of KHA said, “This grant acknowledging the needs of the Kingston Housing Authority is great news. I am happy to have advocated for and lent my support over the years to Executive Director Steven Fischer in his pursuit of these resources. This well-deserved award recognizes the excellent and efficient management of the Kingston Housing Authority”
KHA, among the Hudson River Valley’s leaders in development and management of affordable housing and business property maintenance, operates or administers seven different affordable housing properties in the area, serving more than 1,500 individuals. Founded in 1948, its mission includes not just housing but education and outreach to improve the lives and enhance the self-sufficiency of residents.
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