Progress is being made at the former school building being developed by The Neighborhood.
The Neighborhood is a collaborative effort between the Manitowoc Warming Shelter, The Haven Men’s Homeless Shelter, and Hope House.
Last year, the group purchased the former McKinley Elementary School and got a Conditional Use Permit approved by the Manitowoc Common Council.
Since then, the Neighborhood has been getting ready for construction behind the walls of the building despite it looking the same on the outside.
Pastor Matt Sauer from the Manitowoc Warming Shelter tells Seehafernews.com that the former school is being cleared out, which includes taking down walls in the building.
“The large rooms have been reconstructed into small office space,” he explained. “We’ve been deconstructing that. We’ve been opening up some of the windows that are there, being able to get proper measurements so we can restore the windows to their original beauty.”
Sauer says the building will be an enhancement for the community in the area, but they wanted to invest in the local area.
The group is still looking at getting historic tax credits from the state, which could fund about 20%, or $3.5 million for the project.
In the end, there will be up to 40 transitional apartments as people search for their forever home.
“We’ll have a mixture between studio apartments and 2-bedroom apartments that will fit in there,” he noted. “That hits a big chunk of the estimated 150 necessary units in the housing study from a number of years ago that we need in affordable housing.”
The Neighborhood is also working with Abacus Architects out of Sheboygan who are now starting to work on initial building plans.
By late summer, Sauer says the group hopes to get initial bids for reconstructing the McKinley building.
Sauer predicted, “Assuming that money is following that we might be able to actually begin some real construction in the fall of this year.”
This month, The Neighborhood will start doing more campaigning to raise money for the project.
Sauer said that the project is privately funded and that no county or city funds are being used in the reconstruction.
