If money were no option, the mayor said, he would rather see the complex renovated.
Some of the buildings that comprise Lyman Terrace housing complex, Holyoke.HOLYOKE – Mayor Alex B. Morse said he would prefer to have Lyman Terrace renovated, but $24 million to revamp the 74-year-old housing complex is unavailable, so demolition is the viable option.
“If money was available for renovation, ideally, we’d renovate it,” Morse said Monday.
Demolishing the complex and replacing it with updated housing has been the plan of the Holyoke Housing Authority for several years, said Morse, who took office Jan. 3.
“They’ve applied for funds for demolition, which I’m not opposed to,” Morse said.
The authority hopes to file by the end of this month an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for permission to demolish the complex’ 18, red-brick buildings, Executive Director Rosalie M. Deane said Monday.
The authority administers 2,350 units here, she said.
At the same time, bids from developers to build new housing at the Lyman Terrace site are expected by next month, officials said.
About 400 people live in 167 units at Lyman Terrace. The complex is bordered by Lyman, Front and John streets in the Downtown Neighborhood.
The issue has prompted controversy. Some residents and officials said the plan to demolish and rebuild is the logical step, given the site’s age, noncompliance with current building codes and cost to renovate.
Others want the complex preserved. They say razing is just an excuse to displace a mostly Hispanic population in the city’s urban center and they doubt the authority’s ability to help tenants relocate.
The complex was built to 1930s specifications, which means many of the units are too small by today’s building codes, officials have said.
Morse said that means that whatever is done with Lyman Terrace, at least some demolition and tenant relocation is necessary if only to expand the size of some units, which would result in fewer units in the same number of buildings.
The buildings lack handicap access and new windows, plumbing, heating and other systems are needed. Engineers have said modernizing Lyman Terrace would cost $24 million, Deane said.
An option is to apply to for a Choice Neighborhoods grant, Morse said. Such grants are intended to help distressed neighborhoods by linking housing improvements with appropriate services, schools, public assets, transportation, and access to jobs, according to HUD.
“It doesn’t look like renovation is a viable option, so what do we do? And I’ve said, we can’t keep doing the status quo,” Morse said.
In a commentary in the Sunday Republican, Morse addressed the Lyman Terrace controversy, writing that something has to be done and, “Nor can we continue to engage in the same, worn-out arguments that decry any attempt at revitalization to be veiled racism or attempts at gentrification.”
Meanwhile, the Lyman Street Study Committee continues studying whether to try to make all or part of that street a historic district, Chairwoman Olivia L. Mausel said.
The study began last year before the current controversy over Lyman Terrace. But the study has drawn attention because designation as a historic district could prohibit demolition of structures in the district, she said.