The old Connersville Furniture Co. building, Roots Pattern Shop or Community Education Coalition building, depending on the era, will be transformed to senior housing with the approval of tax credits by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. (File photo)
After decades of standing tall but idle, the Connersville Furniture Co. building, or Roots Pattern Shop to some, received new life Thursday.
Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann announced the Pattern Mill Shop senior housing project had been approved for tax credit funding through the Internal Revenue Service Section 42 Rental Housing Tax Credit Program, administered by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
The Pattern Mill Senior Housing Project is one of 16 projects statewide to receive funding, including a project to create senior housing in the the old YMCA building in Richmond, a project of Western Wayne Senior Housing. The IHCDA received 52 applications for funding.
Project Architect Steve Alexander, Prince Alexander architects, said the tax credits will allow the historic six-story building to be retained as a monument to Connersville’s glory days of manufacturing. It was through the diligent work of Mayor Leonard Urban and the members of the Redevelopment Commission and City Council the project received the funding.
“That is one of the historic buildings (in the city) that still stands,” Urban said. “If can be made into something that is usable and will benefit seniors, it will be back on the taxrolls and help the tax assessment of the city. It will be attractive and be close to places like the City Cemetery, Industrial Park and we hope eventually there will be a grocery and shops over in that area.
“It will be a great asset to the city of Connersville.”
The fact it is funded almost guarantees it will be completed, he said. Over the past several years the concern is that something would happen to that building that would prevent development.
Urban and Alexander thanked the Redevelopment Commission because the members stepped up and took a chance on the building hoping for something greater.
“The late Tom Becht would be happy because he wanted this,” Urban said.
Becht, Joe Glowacki, Carol Hunter, Terry Sturgeon and Gerald Holmes were on the commission when the proposal was first made and they worked to make sure the project succeeded, Alexander said.
Dick O’Neal became a member in January 2014 after Sturgeon moved and had to resign. Coleena Frame replaced Becht last fall and Jeff Reidman replaced Holmes in the spring of 2014. School Board Member Warren Taylor is a non-voting member.
When the Community Education Coalition, which owned the Pattern Shop and the former bank building at 531 Central Ave., announced it would cease operations at the end of 2013, the commission took ownership of the bank building to save the jobs at Issues & Answers, Urban said. The six-story building was in limbo after Jan. 1, 2014 with no real owner and there was a concern what might happen to it.
City Attorney Jon Baker advised the commission could become caretakers of the six-story building until the senior housing project was approved or denied, he recalled. Many on the commission were reluctant to take the building because they could be stuck with a building if the tax credits did not come through. No one else wanted it.
The Redevelopment Commission and City Council approved a downtown development district as part of the process.
“I’ve seen renderings and it’s going to be beautiful,” Urban said. “The city is making improvements and looking more like a progressive city with the Walmart area and this building.”
The project, 1220 Illinois Ave., will include 32 one-bedroom apartments and eight, two-bedroom apartments. The project cost for renovation is $6,280,480. The IHCDA awarded tax credits of $628,915 annually for 10 years and a one-time additional funding from the agency of $498,869.
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