Beloit housing work boosts a community

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Beloit Apartments Redevelopment

Coordination, cost control and working around those who must live in the midst of construction are some of the most difficult aspects of a home renovation.

Madison-based McGann Construction Inc. took on that challenge and multiplied it many times over for the rehabilitation and new construction of half the public housing properties in Beloit. Aaron Kostichka, McGann’s vice president, oversaw the project, which was the second phase in a $12 million redevelopment effort by the Beloit Housing Authority.

He said coordination and a focus on community were at the heart of what was a roving, diverse construction project that included restoring 16 single-family homes, building nine single-family town houses, and demolishing and reconstructing the city’s senior-living complex. The construction team replaced the complex’s cluster of 10 four-unit buildings with a single structure.

The town houses and senior-living complex are near each other in the city’s Parker Bluff area.

“The teamwork between us, the architect and the housing authority,” Kostichka said, “was just phenomenal.”

The work on the senior-living complex was particularly intense, Kostichka said. Many residents had to be moved from the site and into other housing authority properties so crews could demolish the old residences and rebuild.

Those residents who stayed during construction still needed access to the housing authority’s basic services.

“We had to maintain an accessible route to this building,” Kostichka said, “so residents could do their laundry.”

Despite its complexity, the redevelopment has spurred a deeper sense of community, he said.

Socializing is easier for the senior residents of Parker Bluff. They now live in the same building, and there are many areas designed to bring people together. Those areas include a communal green space and pond, a garden, a fitness area, a computer center and a dining room. The town houses, too, have community space with computers and a play area.

But the effect of the project extends beyond the buildings and those who live in them. Contractors, for instance, actively sought Beloit-area residents to work on the projects, Kostichka said.

“We held outreach sessions for locally underemployed or unemployed people,” he said. “We held a job fair, and we performed over 300 interviews.”

Kostichka said the construction team hired 15 people. They worked with carpentry, plumbing, painting and electrical crews, he said, and some of the new hires remain employed and are working on other projects.

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