Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH WEBSTER - Culver's Hill, a senior housing community tucked on a hilltop north of town, was dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house Thursday.
The 10 duplexes of 20 units, developed for residents age 62 and older, of low to moderate income, are owned by the Housing Assistance Office (HAO), based in South Bend.
"There was a real need for this housing," said Janet Ditmire, a HAO executive director. "A lot of people helped to make this hillside a community."
Ditmire credited Robert P. Murphy, planning consultant for R. P. Murphy and Associates, Larwill, with starting the project and administering the Indiana Housing Finance Authority grant.
Murphy, in turn, named town council members Myron Clark, Kay Andrews and Ken Wagner as well as clerk-treasurer Pat Lawrence as the real heroes of the project.
Clark, president of the council, also spoke, saying the community acknowledged a lack of senior housing in town.
Bob Schrock, president and owner of D.J. Construction Company Inc., said it was a real pleasure to be involved with the project.
The company usually engages itself in commercial and industrial work. Their bid of $1,054,000 for the work was approved by the town council and the IHFA in 1996.
Not present yet acknowledged was Bart Culver, who donated 10 acres of the land in 1995.
HAO is obligated to maintain the terraced site off Epworth Forest Road behind the United Methodist Church as senior citizen housing for at least five years, according to grant agreements; responsibility for the subdivision was transferred to HAO from the town in March.
Each 800-square-foot apartment has two bedrooms, a kitchen, patio, living/dining room and one-car garage. Appliances are included. Monthly rent, including utilities, is $429.
An additional 24 apartments and community center are planned for future expansion.
Funding for the housing development came in the form of an Indiana Housing Finance Authority grant of $500,000 for infrastructure improvements; an Indiana Dept. of Commerce grant of $400,000 and $50,000 in Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits; private donations from Charles Cole Jr., Richard Hinton, the Hoover Foundation, Kosciusko County Foundation, Lake City Bank and NIPSCO. The HAO provided a $97,000 local match for infrastructure.
Interest in the housing was so keen the apartments were filled a year before construction began.
Annexed in 1997 to the town of North Webster, the $1.53 million project has room for a maximum of 48 units.
An invocation was given by the Rev. Christine Newman-Jacobs North Webster United Methodist Church.
