KCEOC, local leaders celebrate opening of senior housing at old Corbin Hospital site

Above, the inside of one of the apartments at KCEOC’s new senior housing complex.

After six years of setbacks, legal wrangling and funding concerns, a local non-profit organization celebrated the official grand opening last week of an apartment complex on the old Corbin Municipal Hospital site that will provide low income housing for seniors.

Paul Dole, President and CEO of Kentucky Communities Economic Opportunity Council (KCEOC), said he was pleased with the end result of the Corbin Senior Housing project, and called the road to its completion arduous but rewarding.

"This is what KCEOC does. This is what our staff does every day is to make projects like this work," Dole told a group of local officials, KCEOC staff members and community residents during an open house on site last Thursday. "We developed a great partnership with the city of Corbin on this. It was not necessarily an easy trip, but it was worth it."

John Hamm, Supervisory Project Manager with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Corbin Senior Housing was constructed with numerous federal grants designed to help with such worthwhile projects. KCEOC received $1.7 million in "capital advance" funds that do not have to be paid back as long as the property is used to provide rent-controlled housing for senior citizens for 40 years.

The organization also got $107,997 worth of pre-development funds to help with up front expenses, and a $285,000 HUD economic development special project grant to assist with demolition of the old hospital and off site costs.

The complex has 16 efficient units designed for "very low" income seniors, and common areas. Residents will not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their income toward housing expense. Hamm said KCEOC would receive $54,000 annually to supplement rental income from tenants.

"Developments like this are brought to reality through a team effort," Hamm said. "We look forward to seeing these 16 units occupied and providing housing to our elderly citizens in this area."

HUD is responsible for the construction of 41 similar housing developments across Kentucky and has provided a total of $95 million for construction. In excess of $5.1 million is provided annually for rental assistance.

Miles Estes, Vice-President for Advancement for KCEOC, said the organization has been taking applications for the new facility for quite some time. He added interest has been high.

"We won’t have any trouble filling it," Estes said. "I think it’s just perfect and fits with what many elderly people want. They don’t want large units that require a lot of upkeep. These are the perfect size and the area here is very quiet. I think it will be a great environment."

KCEOC purchased the old hospital, located off Mitchell Street, in 2005 for $20,000. The deal was brokered by former Corbin Mayor Amos Miller and officials from the organization following attempts by the city and state to hold the owners of the site responsible for property maintenance violations. Questions about ownership arose, and the city eventually bought the property and immediately sold it to KCEOC on the promise the abandoned, dilapidated hospital at the site would be demolished.

KCEOC struggled, for a time, to secure funding for the demolition because of government grant cutbacks, and the issue soon became mired in a lawsuit when local attorney David O. Smith sued the organization, and the city, for failing to tear down the hospital. Whitley Circuit Judge Paul Braden ruled in Smith’s favor and set a timeline for action. Demolition of the structure was complicated by the presence of asbestos in the building that had to be removed.

Once the hospital was torn down, the city followed through on a promise to deed KCEOC an additional tract of the property at the site.

Estes said last week’s open house represented the completion of phase one of plans for the site. Also in the works is a tentative project to provide housing for moderate to low-income families that could have some retail space on the ground floor. The organization has also said it would like to build town homes on the site that would be sold.