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Putnam Howe Village marks completion of $7M rehabilitation

The back exterior of the Putnam Howe Village in Belpre. The senior living facility in Belpre commemorated its Grand Reopening on Tuesday during a special event. The facility underwent a $7 million rehabilitation over the last year. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

BELPRE  —  After a major renovation has been completed, the Putnam Howe Village will continue to serve the area’s senior population for many more years to come.

Residents, employees, elected officials and company officials all gathered Tuesday at the refurbished facility at 711 Belrock Ave. to commemorate its grand reopening.

Originally built by National Church Residences in 1983, the 51-unit affordable housing community was awarded a 9 percent tax credit from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency in July 2014 for the $7 million rehabilitation. Over the last year, the building has received a new exterior facade, windows and roof, an expanded interior common area and upgrades to handicapped accessible units.

National Church Residences President and CEO Mark Ricketts said they have renovated 40 some facilities around Ohio and none of them looked like what they did when they started.

“This does not look like the building I saw a year and a half ago,” he said. “We are about preserving affordable housing, because we are not getting much money to build new these days.

National Church Residences Senior Vice President of Development and Acquisitions Matt Rule spoke during a special event Tuesday commemorating the Grand Reopening of Putnam Howe Village in Belpre. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

“We need to make these facilities last another 30 years or so.”

One of the company’s goals is maintaining facilities so seniors don’t have to move and have a home where they can stay for the rest of their days.

“We are going to do everything to allow seniors to stay home for life,” Ricketts said. “The federal government is not funding nursing home reimbursement the way they once did.

“It is not the best place to finish your life. Our goal is to add more and more services into these campuses so this will be the last place seniors will live. Many seniors have said ‘thank you’ to us for doing that.”

Over the last 14 months residents have had to accommodate work crews in and around the building doing the renovation work.

Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz spoke at the Grand Reopening of the Putnam Howe Village in Belpre. The senior living facility underwent a $7 million renovation. Lorentz said he has had relatives who lived at the facility and it was the best thing to happen to them. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

National Church Residences Senior Vice President of Development and Acquisitions Matt Rule said there is value in doing transformational rehabilitations.

“We think that our existing senior facilities, like this one, we need to reinvest in,” he said. “We have a number of facilities, like this one, that are aging and we think it is important to reinvest in them.

“Thank you to the residents for living with us through this preservation project. Now you can enjoy the fruits of your patience.”

State Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Ohio 30th District, reiterated the need for affordable housing in local communities is critical.

“We remain committed at the state level to make sure there are resources available to reinvest in existing facilities like this,: he said.

Charlene Bell, is the longest living resident at the facility having moved there in 1990, was part of the ribbon cutting event for the Grand Reopening of the Putnam Howe Village in Belpre on Tuesday. She liked everything about the renovation that was done and it felt like a new place. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

In order to accomplish projects like this one, support is needed at the state, county and local levels, officials said.

Belpre Mayor Michael Lorentz said he had a grandmother who was one of the first residents at Putnam Howe Village in 1983. His other grandmother also became a resident a short time later.

“For the two of them, this is the nicest place they had ever lived in,” he said. “This is where they finished their days.

“We need affordable housing. I really and truly believe somewhere close we need another one of these facilities, because the need is there. It is wonderful to see this project completed,” Lorentz said.

Washington County Commissioner David A. White said he is a baby-boomer and his generation initially drove the building of schools and is now leading the way in the building of senior living facilities.

“We will certainly need more facilities like this one as they are becoming more and more necessary every day,” he said.

Wade F. Hungerford of MCR Services Inc. of Columbus, the general contractor for the project, said this was the third largest project they have done in over 20 years of business and they were able to get it completed on time.

“It was another great project for us,” he said. “I hope we have exceeded your expectations here.

“We have people who care about what they work on. They take pride in their craft.”

Hungerford said the residents, staff and their workers took on the mission to live together for 12 months during planning and over 12 months onsite while the work was being done.

“Because of the kindness of all the residents, our associates have put on at least 100 pounds collectively,” he said.

Although they are from out of the area, they received a warm welcome in Belpre. He hoped they were able to do a lot during their time here to support the local economy, including hiring a number of local subcontractors.

“We will come back any time,” he said.

Residents really liked the look of the place and the many changes.

Charlene Bell, the longest living resident at the facility having moved there in 1990, said she liked everything about the renovations.

“I think it is just beautiful,” she said. “It is like a whole new place.”

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