Cooperative to renovate the 'twin sister' homes announced Wednesday

[December 22, 2011]  They are known in the community as the "twin sister" houses. In the past, they've been ladies with a less-than-stellar reputation, but very soon that will all change.

The two homes at 627 and 629 Pulaski St., just a block off the downtown square, are now part of an exciting new project in the city of Lincoln.

Wednesday morning, Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder, Superintendent Robert Bagby and LTEC director Bret Hitchings of Lincoln Community High School, and local businessman David Lanterman announced a renovation project that will begin with the 2012 school year.

The two homes are currently empty and in uninhabitable condition. They have been for sale for several years, and recently Lanterman took a deep breath and took the plunge, purchasing the homes from an unnamed owner in Missouri.

Lanterman is in the process of forming a not-for-profit organization that will in the end be the owner and overseer of the properties. He has engaged the building and trades class of Lincoln Community High School to take on the restoration of the homes, and it is hoped that by the end of the 2012-13 school year, the two homes will be ready to lease out as dwellings.

Lanterman said the properties are currently two dwellings each, one ground-level and one upper-level per house. The current intention is to return them to the same status, making four new affordable living areas in the heart of the city.

However, he also noted that between now and next year, if anyone would express an interest in taking a ground-floor slot for office space, that might be considered.

When the homes are completed and the expenses covered, the revenues gained from the leases will be rolled back into new projects. Lanterman said the not-for-profit will use the gains to invest in downtown projects, which may include renovation or downtown beatification.

At the official announcement Wednesday morning, each person in attendance spoke about the project and its significance to the city of Lincoln, beginning with Snyder.

The mayor said the city of Lincoln is not physically involved but is helping to coordinate the community project.

Snyder also repeated much of what was included in a news release handed out at the announcement, which read:

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This partnership will bring together private equity funders, the local vocational education program, local high school students, local businesses, non-profit organizations, volunteers, and others to restore the two Victorian houses that had fallen into disrepair. The partnership is designed to revive these important and highly visible assets to Lincoln's historic district, to benefit downtown, and to do so in a replicatable way.

Mr. Lanterman acquired the properties and will engage Dale Bassi Construction to put new roofs on both of the properties in the spring of 2012. In August 2012, the properties will become the 2012-13 projects for the Lincolnland Technical Education Center's Building Trades program. The LTEC students from local high schools will get hands on experience in restoration and renovation of existing properties as they turn both buildings back into showcases of community pride.

The project will be overseen by a small board operating under the auspices of a local non-profit organization. All proceeds from the project will be used to benefit future downtown projects, including, perhaps, the renovation and restoration of additional properties within the downtown historic district.

Mayor Snyder stated, "This is an exciting day when we can bring together this cooperative effort to alleviate a visible eyesore in a way that will preserve our past, beautify our community today, and position our downtown for future growth and prosperity, all while training and educating local students in hands-on construction skills."

He called on the people and businesses of Lincoln to support the project in any way that they can: "We're going to need volunteers to help with clean-up before the building trades program comes in next fall; we're going to need building materials donated; we're going to need services donated. If you think there is a way you can help, we'd ask you to contact us. We want this to be a community effort to revive the Twin Sisters."

Lanterman spoke, saying he wanted to thank the Illini Bank, Logan County Title and Mike Simonson for all their assistance in the purchase of the property.

"The part that excites me is getting the building trades involved in restoration and renovation," he said. "There is a lot of that, that is very important in older towns like ours. It is great to build, but we also have a lot of things to maintain and restore, so that is very exciting. And the rest is just being able to save them -- I'm excited about that."

Lanterman also said he would be interested in having people share information about the history of the homes. If there is anyone who lived in the homes or had family who did, he would like to hear from those folks. He said if the information could be gathered, he'd like to put together a history of them to share with the public.

It was also noted that while the buildings look a little rough on the outside, they are sturdy, well-built, with good framework.

Hitchings also spoke briefly, saying this type of project is in line with the training the building and trades class receives.

"When we talked about this, we really liked the idea. This is a way for the kids to get involved with the community, do some restoration activity, and it still meets with the objectives of the program," Hitchings said. "They will still do a lot of building trade and construction activities that they will use as they leave high school, get a job and pursue a career in the construction trade. So this has two benefits, the educational value and seeing the students get involved with the community, so it is a win-win."

Also on hand for the announcement were Wanda Lee Rohlfs, director of Main Street Lincoln, and Mike Maniscalco, director of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership.

Rohlfs spoke, saying she was excited to see two historic old homes preserved. She explained the Main Street objective is to maintain and preserve the downtown area, so this project is exactly what her organization wants to see.

She also noted the value of the LTEC program in the school and touched briefly on another youth program that has been involved this year with the community, the National Honor Society. In addition she said she had talked to Hitchings about getting the horticulture classes involved in creating the planters to be hung around the downtown square next year.

Maniscalco said he, too, was excited about the program and was going to be paying close attention to how it works out, "having public entities, private entities, nonprofit entities all coming together for the development of the community."

"There is a potential here that maybe we can even replicate this in other areas," he said. "The partnership will be watching very closely to see how this all comes together. I am really excited and congratulate David, the mayor and the high school for putting this all together. I can only imagine what they are going to pull off."

In the news release, LCHS Superintendent Robert Bagby was quoted:

"Lincoln Community High School and the LTEC program is excited to be a part of this effort. This is going to be a highly visible project where the community can watch our progress and see the skills of these talented young people and the benefits of our technical education program on a daily basis. We're looking forward to getting underway next fall."

At the announcement he added: "It is just exciting that Mr. Lanterman is taking a leap of faith to get all this started, versus someone coming in and tearing it down. It is just an outstanding community project."

As the morning meeting wound down, one of the final points that came up was the visibility of the project. Since it is located on one of Lincoln's busiest downtown streets, the community is going to be able to see the progress made. It will give people an opportunity to be inspired by a community project and to see firsthand the work of the building and trades class.

Lanterman said the home interiors are in need of some serious cleaning right now, but once that is done, there may be an opportunity for the media to get a good "before" look inside so that everyone will be able to appreciate the work more once it is completed.

Anyone interested in contributing toward the project can contact Mayor Snyder at 217-735-1612 or [e-mail] or Bret Hitchings at LCHS, 217-732-4131 or [e-mail].

[By NILA SMITH]