LIMA — When Allen County Treasurer Rachael Gilroy heard about a program that helps build houses for veterans, she just knew it would be a good match for the Allen County Land Bank.
The land bank tears down old, dilapidated houses that are beyond repair or those in which the owner is behind on taxes. The vacant land can then be used to make room for the construction of a new house.
Lots for Soldiers acquires vacant land to build homes for veterans at only the cost of construction.
The two groups came together Tuesday to watch the demolition of a home at 207 W. North St., in Elida. The property, once demolition and cleanup is complete, will be turned over to Lots for Soldiers to build a house for a veteran.
“I initiated the phone call. I saw information on them through the newspaper and I made the contact with them and let them know about our project,” Gilroy said.
The land bank can transfer lots to nonprofit groups without a lot of legal hassles, she said.
Homer Barnett of Lots for Soldiers said his organization built its first home in Celina in 2014 and they try to build at least one home a year.
Barnett said this is a good way to thank veterans for their service.
“This is the first one we participated with the land bank and we are pretty excited,” Barnett said.
The organization also has two lots in Spencerville, one in the city of Lima and one in Shawnee Township, Barnett said.
Interested veterans or current military soldiers can apply by going to http://LotsForSoldiers.com. Veterans are screened to determine if a lot fits the needs of a family and it’s where they want to live.
“Once we determine a good fit between the veteran and the property we then design the house around their needs and their wants and their property constraints,” Barnett said.
Companies and citizens are asked to make donations to the project and the cost of the build becomes the mortgage amount the veteran pays, Barnett said.
This particular property was donated to the land bank by a woman who is in a nursing home, Gilroy said.
“We are completing our first demolition in a property outside the city of Lima. That’s exciting for us. We are finally able to expand outside the city,” Gilroy said. “This makes our sixth demolition. We have 12 more coming up by the end of next week.”
All properties going into the land bank must be delinquent on taxes and severely dilapidated.
“They have to be residential structures,” she said.
Once the land bank has a property officials can go into it for inspection and determine if anything needs to be mitigated such as asbestos, which was the case at the Elida home. That increased the cost close to the $20,000 per home demolition limit, Gilroy said.
“We had to have all that removed before we could start demolition,” she said.
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Greg Sowinski | The Lima News
