THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702020103
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 54 lines
It's a new house for Robert and Elizabeth McLean, but for the Berkley community it also was a linking of the past and future.
That's why the McLeans had lots of help last week as they dedicated their new two-story, three-bedroom house at 133 Hardy Ave.
The well-wishers spilling across the sidewalk and street on Friday included leaders of Berkley's Beacon Light Civic League, former residents of the community, City Council member Paul R. Riddick, and officials from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
The house was the first sponsored by the Beacon Light Civic League, but it also marked a continuation of that organization's 56-year record of community-building activities.
And, while the house is new, its exterior design incorporates architectural features of surrounding early 20th century homes - fish-scale shingles and a pillared front porch where 81-year-old Robert McLean, a retired pipe fitter, plans to perch himself for chats with neighbors.
The McLeans are no newcomers to Berkley, having lived on nearby Fauquier Street since 1945. The redevelopment authority is buying their old house to help make way for a neighborhood shopping center.
Elizabeth McLean said she's glad to stay in Berkley because she'll continue to be near her church, St. Mark United Church of Christ.
Community leaders believe the McLeans will help bring stability to a neighborhood that needs more homeowners. There's also a hope that the new house will spark renovation of nearby homes, including a few already boarded up.
``We're trying to build up this community and invite two-parent working families who will make this a viable area again,'' said Theodore Lewis, program administrator for Beacon Light's nonprofit Community Housing Development Organization.
The organization already is planning two more houses on Poplar Avenue, the next street over from Hardy Avenue.
There also was a closing of a circle of sorts. On hand Friday was 93-year-old Simcoe Glasser, who used to own the McLeans' old house on Fauquier Avenue 51 years ago. His son, Izaak ``Zack'' Glasser, is the attorney handling the transaction for the new house.
Beacon Light was able to sponsor the house under a federal loan and grant program called HOME. Its features include a write-down of home sales prices and forgiveness of some mortgage payments when families stay for at least five years.
The McLean house is priced at about $90,000, but the couple will pay far less because of the HOME program, NRHA officials said. Final figures were still being calculated Friday.
``If it had not been for the NRHA, this would not be possible. We just really need to support the NRHA,'' said Kenneth Cooper Alexander, Beacon Light president.