|
from The Telegraph
June 25, 2004
New house is first in redevelopment
|
|
|
The Telegraph/MARGIE M. BARNES
|
|
Matthew Hogan with C. Mac Construction Inc. of St. Peters puts the finishing touches on the front porch of a house at 1026 George St., in Alton. The house is the first of six to be built on the 1.3-acre site of the former Lincoln School in Alton; two more will be built on a lot across the street.
|
|
By LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph
ALTON -- Neighbors cheered in April 2001 when a city worker began demolishing the decrepit remains of a long-vacated nuisance called Lincoln School.
This weekend, they will be able to visit the first single-family home that has risen up on the old school site.
An open house will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the upscale, professionally decorated home, 1026 George St.
"This is the best looking house we’ve ever done," said construction supervisor Jim Davis of The Meyer Co. of St. Louis. "And I’ve been with the company four years, and we’ve built upwards of 300 houses."
Developer Tim Allman, vice president of The Meyer Co. of St. Louis, agreed.
"The house is beautiful," he said. "Everyone is interested to see the inside. There is not a lot of new (construction) going on in Alton. I can’t wait for people to see it; we’re excited about the prospective buyers in Alton to see it."
On Thursday, construction crews were finishing up minor work inside and outside the house. Sod and some landscaping is supposed to go in today.
An asphalt alley that will allow access to garages in the development will be added later, Davis said.
The two-story, four-bedroom house is the company’s Douglas Plan, its old-fashioned style fitting with the older homes in the Middletown neighborhood. The sided house has a screened-in side porch with a ceiling fan with woven paddles, a front porch, one half-bath and two full baths.
The home also has a gas fireplace ready with "logs" and a green marble accent; a rolling, retractable front door screen; plenty of the popular hardwood floors; beige carpeting; and dramatic light fixtures.
Optional furnishings are sophisticated and in elegant, deep, rich shades of green, browns, orange, black and tan. Walls throughout the house are painted a "gentle doe" pale brown.
The home’s entry foyer is large, the floor plan is open and replete with closets. The 2,042-square-foot house is on an 80-foot-by 110-foot lot; it has an attached garage at its rear and first-floor laundry room. The kitchen, with its forest green countertops, has reddish cordovan stained wood cabinets, and a built-in microwave and dishwasher.
While the house is a display to inspire homebuyers to purchase a lot on the site and have Meyerbuild another house according to their specifications, it also is for sale.
The estimated price had been $225,000, but it rose to $239,000. The final price was not set Thursday, and it will depend on how many furnishings a buyer wants to include in the purchase contract, said Charlene Walker, listing agent.
The completion date also was delayed several times; poor weather pushed back the project by three weeks, Davis said.
Walker, who attended the school demolition ceremony three years ago, also lives nearby and so has a second personal interest in the success of the infill housing development that the city of Alton coordinated with Meyer.
"It’s wonderful to see we have houses filling in the gap up here, and it’s comparable to some of the others in the neighborhood," Walker said. "We are looking forward to new neighbors moving in."
Alton sold the land to Meyer for $16,163 after spending about $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant money and in-house labor on purchasing the site, removing asbestos from the remnants of the old school that sat vacant 19 years, demolition and tipping fees.
Developers hope seven more houses will follow in a renaissance bounded by East 11th Street on the north, East 10th on the south, Alton Street on the west and George Street on the east. Plans are for Meyer to sell the lots, then build six houses on the main, 1.3-acre site and two others on a 7,200-square-foot parcel between 9th and 10th streets on the west side of George Street.
The building is offering two main Victorian design plans with three choices of "elevations" or front "faces," of three or four bedrooms and numerous interior options.
Allman, vice president of Meyer, and President Jerry Meyer at first had wanted to build eight houses on the main site. Neighbors, however, convinced city officials and the men that the homes would be more desirable on larger lots.
Walker is affiliated with Re/Max Preferred Partners; her telephone number is
462-3988.
lnweller@hotmail.com
|
