MACO Development recognized for Park Hills preservation project

MACO Development was presented an Honor Award for its preservation of Eugene Field School in Park Hills, Mo.  The award was presented by Gov. Matt Blunt during the 2006 Annual Awards Ceremony held March 2, in Jefferson City in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda.  

The awards recognize the outstanding preservation efforts and projects around the state.

The Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation -- also called Missouri Preservation -- is Missouri's only statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, supporting, and coordinating historic preservation activities throughout the State.  Founded in 1976 as the Missouri Heritage Trust, Missouri Preservation has evolved into a respected grassroots network of individuals, organizations, and preservation commissions throughout Missouri.

The last remaining historic schoolhouse in the community of Park Hills, the Eugene Field School is one of the most imposing buildings in town. Its simple functional design still reflects the working class ethic of the people who came to Missouri's top lead-mining area in the early 20th century. Composed of an original building dating from 1907, and an early addition (probably 1911), the building has retained much of its historical integrity inside and out.

James K. Maddox of MACO Development saw the potential for converting the school to apartments for seniors. Missouri Housing Development Commission funded a large portion of the rehabilitation costs. Financing for the development includes a $700,000 federal HOME Community Housing Development Organization loan, a $20,000 operating grant and $238,000 in state and federal Rental Housing Tax Credits. The Department of Economic Development also provided $776,984 in Historical Tax Credits.  The $3.5 million Eugene Fields project consists of one- and two-bedroom apartments in the original school building as well as in a new addition. The facility includes an exercise area, community and sitting rooms and an outdoor barbecue area.

The project included the construction of a new rear wing that complements the existing building. It was the 12-apartment units in the old school building that were in highest demand. In those apartments, MACO restored the original ceiling height, the historic interior millwork and the original wooden floors. Doorways into each classroom were rebuilt with period appropriate doors. Badly deteriorated windows were replaced with windows that closely matched the historic multi-paned window sashes. The arched front entry, which was altered in an earlier renovation, was reconstructed based on historic photos.

Townspeople came to tour the site and began signing up to rent apartments while construction was still underway.  Rehabilitation of the Eugene Field School is also the first major construction project in this small mining community in many years. It is the first major historic rehabilitation and is the only historic tax credit project to date. The most significant success is the enthusiasm of local citizens who feel they have retained a visible symbol of their community's history.

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MHDC is the state's housing finance agency. The Commission is dedicated to strengthening communities and the lives of Missourians through the financing, development and preservation of affordable housing. Since 1969, MHDC has encouraged and assisted in the production of affordable rental housing and provided homeownership opportunities for thousands of families while investing almost $4 billion in Missouri housing for rental housing developments, home mortgages, home improvement loans, loans to landlords for renovations, grants to neighborhood housing groups and other programs.  MHDC does not build or renovate housing itself; rather, it functions as a bank, providing financing directly to borrowers or through a network of private lending institutions. Most of MHDC's programs operate as a public-private partnership.