Lakewood’s First Habitat Home Taking Shape
The walls of the arts-and-crafts-style bungalow at 2070 Dowd Avenue — the same address of a home deemed a “persistent blight” and demolished in 2009 — are all up.
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Construction is well under way on an energy-efficient, 1600-square-feet Habitat for Humanity home on Dowd Avenue.
It's beginning to look like a home.
The walls of the arts-and-crafts-style bungalow at 2070 Dowd Avenue — the same address of a home deemed a “persistent blight” and demolished in 2009 — are all up.
The project is moving along smoothly, after officials hosted a "wall-raising ceremony" last month.
Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity will oversee the construction of the four-bedroom, 1600-square-feet home.
But this isn’t your mother’s Habitat for Humanity.
The home will use 50 percent less energy than its Birdtown neighbors, and the architectural style is aimed at “blending in” with the neighborhood.
The home is expected to be "move-in ready" by March.
Second Habitat home construction to begin soon
There’s another Habitat home set for construction this summer.
That project, at 1549 Lakewood Avenue, the site of a former apartment complex deemed a “nuisance” by the city and demolished in August, is expected to begin soon.
The project on Lakewood Avenue — the land originally considered for a new pocket park — is expected to have a similar design.
Among the few differences, the Lakewood Avenue home would have a wrap-around porch and a larger lot.
Ann Schwarz
8:07 pm on Thursday, July 12, 2012
The address 2070 Dowd Ave. was the location for many years of Lakewood Day Nursery. This center was started by the old Union Carbide during WWI when young mothers worked while their husbands were away at war. The sight on Dowd was buillt as a Day care center in the early 20's. It was never a home-although a caretaker lived in a 2 room efficiencey in the 40's (The original building was located around the corner on Plover. The center was a part of Day Nursery Association and then Center for Human Services and finally Center for Families and Children. As a former teacher at this center, I was and still am very proud of the work we did there and the thousands of young children who were cared for over the decades. The Center for Families and Children closed the center about 10 years ago and were unsure of what to do with the center. It would have cost many thousands of dollars to update the facility (plumbing, electrical, etc) It was put on the market but just like many homes in the area, no buyers were found. Eventually the center was razed. I am glad that the property is a part of Habitat for Humanity. I just think it is important that people understand that this was not a "nuisance property" It was, for years, a wonderful and important part of many families lives and we were very sad to see it closed down. Lakewood Day Nursery had a proud and wonderful legacy for the community.
Michele Marotta
8:38 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Such a cool story for a new habitat home! Lakewood has such a rich history, this should be relayed to the future homeowners.