One bright spot in the otherwise bleak housing market is in Lexington, where there's a surprising amount of buyer interest in plans to restore the Erlanger Mill Village. We need more projects that mix historic preservation, revitalization and affordability.
Lexington leaders have long worked to revitalize the mill village. Now, with a $1 million federal grant, the city of Lexington is working with the Lexington Housing Community Development Corporation to buy and market houses in the village. The city is hiring contractors to renovate the houses.
The village is rich in history. Starting in the early part of the last century, it was home to workers at Erlanger Cotton Mills. The factory planned it as a way to attract skilled workers. The village had schools, stores, recreation centers and churches.
There were mill villages like it across the state. Most of them, along with a lot of the mills they supported, are gone, as are all the memories they held.
Erlanger Mill Village has been in decline for some time. That's starting to change.
The village is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city has installed lampposts and sidewalks, and has demolished apartments in the area to make way for a park. As the city has worked, it has solicited input from former and current residents of the village.
More work will be needed, but there has been buyer interest, even in these difficult times for the housing market. "It's the opposite of what you'd think," Antoinette Kerr, the executive director of the Lexington Housing CDC, told the Journal's Michael's Hewlett.
There's good reason for the interest. The homes will be relatively inexpensive, ranging in price from $39,900 to $59,900.
Some potential buyers can qualify for financial assistance. They will be required to take courses in homebuyer education. As the foreclosure crisis has made painfully clear, such courses are sorely needed.
Lexington, hit especially hard by the wave of factory closings and layoffs, has worked hard at economic development. Its leaders recognize that revitalization is as much a part of that as landing new businesses and raising high-school graduation rates. Good work has been done toward transforming the heart of the city -- "Uptown Lexington" -- as well as in the Depot District.
The revitalization of the Erlanger Mill Village could complement that work. An important place in the town's history could be preserved, and more badly needed affordable housing could be provided.
And it's just possible this effort could provide a model for other housing efforts in our rapidly changing region.
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