Paducah’s revitalization efforts in the Fountain Avenue Neighborhood are on track to wrap up next year.
The city began the Fountain Avenue Neighborhood Program nearly a decade ago. Paducah planning director Steve Ervin says the city has only 5 houses left to be sold of the 97 it originally purchased. He says there have been 35 new homes built.
“There’s also been a lot of public infrastructure improvements. We’ve done park improvements with Lang Park and the boulevard section as well as the ongoing work on the health park,” Ervin said.
Ervin says he expects a dialogue on which neighborhood to revitalize next within six months.
Midtown Alliance of Neighbors executive director Sharon Poat grew up attending Fountain Avenue Methodist Church. When the city started its revitalization project she became involved with the Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people in the neighborhood afford to fix up their homes.
“There were people that had been in the neighborhood a long time, good solid, people who had been there and seen it all, that were able to keep up with their monthly bills but they weren’t really in a position to do major rehabilitation of their home because they were retired or disabled,” Poat said.
Poat says the Midtown Alliance of Neighbors will continue to work on creating stronger neighborhoods across the city. She says she hopes the organization will be able to work with the city on future neighborhood revitalization projects.
In total, there’s been about $12.4 million public and private dollars invested in Fountain Avenue’s housing since 2007. According to a release, there are still 25 lots and eight homes available for renovation.
