Fairview Meadows Apartments Open

 

Construction was completed on Friday, May 4, 2007.  The next day at 8:00 a.m., the doors opened to admit the first residents-to-be.  By 8:10 a.m., all 60 one-bedroom apartments were “claimed,” set to be occupied by senior individuals, some who had been waiting in the rain for several hours and who all met the federal qualifications to live in the low-income housing structure.  Subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Fairview Meadows joins Village Garden Apartments at Brethren Village in Manheim Township as critically-needed affordable housing sites for the elderly.

 

To further emphasize the need of such housing projects in Lancaster County, the day that Fairview Meadows was dedicated - May 8th - there was already a waiting list of 40 additional seniors, ready to move into the three-story apartment building, which was constructed with nearly $5.5 million from HUD, including over $1.3 million from the Redevelopment Authority of Lancaster County in HOME Investment Partnerships Program and PA Department of Community and Economic Development funds.

 

Above, construction of Fairview Meadows at an early stage in the summer of 2006.
 
Fairview Meadows Apartments broke ground on July 5, 2006.  Designed by Lancaster architectural firm Reese, Lower, Patrick  & Scott Ltd., the project was built by Benchmark Construction Company, who was also responsible for the construction of such senior living housing projects in Lancaster County as the award-winning Woodcrest Villa Independent Living Apartments and the Cottages at Luther Acres in Lititz, as well as the construction of a new skilled nursing facility and the renovation of St. Anne’s Home for the Aged in Columbia.  Benchmark also coordinated an 18-cottage expansion at Brethren Village in 2003.

 

Each of the apartments at Fairview Meadows is approximately 550 square feet with a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and individual climate controlled heating and cooling units in each room.  There is a 645 square-foot Community Room with full kitchen, TV and game area on the first floor. Also on the first floor are three handicap-accessible apartments of 550 square feet each.  Other amenities include a computer/library room with high-speed Internet access, three laundry rooms (one on each floor) with front-loading washers and dryers, and resident storage areas, measuring 36 cubic feet each.  Residents on the second and third floors have access to trash chute disposal.

 

For sunny, cooler spring and autumn days and early evenings, the residents can sit and enjoy a patio and wrap-around porch, as well as exterior resident lounge areas.  Another important feature of Fairview Meadows is 24-hour, seven days/week Security and card access for resident entrances and exits.  Of course, there is also smoke detection and full-building sprinkler protection.

 

On left, Fairview Meadows Apartments nearly completed, April of 2007.
 

During the May 8th dedication ceremony, Brethren Village president Gary N. Clouser said that getting Fairview Meadows built was a three-year process, from submitting the initial application for funding to HUD in July of 2004 to the completion of the project  just a few days earlier.  However, he stated that affordable housing is seen as “part of our ministry here at Brethren Village.”

 

The dedication address was delivered by the Reverend Curtis Dubble, himself a Brethren Village resident.  Dubble spoke of how Brethren Village was inspired by certain Bible passages, showing the mercy of God toward the homeless.

 

“Regardless of red tape in securing housing funding. . .regardless of the party in power, “

Dubble said, “This same God of history motivates us to provide affordable housing

for all.”
 
                                                                                   

                         Below, an interior photo of a hallway

 in the Fairview Meadows building.