A new apartment complex for low-income seniors on Ardmore’s east side may be completed ahead of schedule, while a renovation project at another complex has been delayed.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a $1.2 million grant to Big Five Community Services Inc. in 2009 to build Dunbar Heritage Apartments. The complex, which will include 14 one-bedroom units and a small community center with laundry facilities and an office, is designed so its residents can live independently in an environment that provides support services such as cleaning, cooking and transportation. HUD will subsidize residents’ rents, depending upon their ability to pay.
The complex will be a non-smoking facility.
The apartments are under construction at 27 Burton St., within easy walking distance of the Dunbar Heritage Center, so residents will be able to participate in the center’s senior nutrition program. Ardmore city commissioners voted in January to spend $8,500 to provide parking adjacent to the complex.
The parking lot will include concrete curbing and asphalt paving.
“We are ahead of schedule, and we hope to have a grand opening in April,” Beth Parker, Big Five’s housing and community program director, said. “We already have 11 applicants.”
Parker said a change in funding sources delayed the $2.1 million renovation of the Big Five Apartments at 1212 6th Ave. N.E., but the project is expected to begin later this year.
“Our application to the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency has been approved, but we still have paperwork and closing documents to be signed,” Parker said Monday.
Big Five Carter County Coordinator Harold Roberts said last year that all 43 apartments in the complex will be renovated. As a part of the project, the office and laundry room will be remodeled and the playground will be redone. The new units will be totally electric and energy efficient.
Steve Biehn
221-6546
