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MANKATO — A $9.8 million renovation of Mankato’s largest public housing
complex aims to transform it from a drab apartment into an exercise- and
environment-friendly modern building.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the building. It’s pretty generic,” said Jim
Moy, president and CEO of the Minneapolis firm Blumentals Architecture, Inc.
“We’re trying to make it less institutional and more homey,” he said later
at Monday night’s City Council work session.
That principle will lead to many aesthetic changes for Orness Plaza, a
101-unit apartment building for low-income individuals, mostly seniors.
They include pushing out exterior-facing windows by a few feet to create
some contrast in what is now a gray slab.
The first-floor atrium will have an indoor garden and fish pond. The plastic
handrails will have a wood add-on. |
Photo Source: Blumentals/Architecture
Inc. |
But most
of the changes aren’t just for looks. They aim to help the residents of the
101 units live better lives.
There are plans for an exercise room — there’s none now — that will be
designed by Minnesota State University professor Mary Visser, said Patti
Ziegler, Mankato’s housing coordinator. Interns from the university may also
help seniors learn how to use the equipment.
Two paths — one winding around the atrium garden and another around the
outside of the building — should make walking more convenient. |
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The residents should have more control over how their
apartments smell and feel.
They’ll have fresh air circulated into the units, which will remove the
stale air and lingering smells that pervade the units now. There will be a
central air conditioning system — some residents buy individual units now —
that will be adjustable in each unit.
The kitchens will also be bigger, though some pantry and coat space will be
taken up by the new machines necessary for the improvements.
The project was aided by a $10,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield to fund
an environment-focused planning process. The designers are seeking
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design, or LEED, program.
It will feature a geothermal heating and cooling system, which involves the
use of wells that carry water 200 feet underground. In the winter, the cold
water absorbs heat from the ground and in the summer the cool water acts
like an air conditioner.
Mankato Councilwoman Tamra Rovney had some questions, including the effect
on neighbors and whether all the work in the parking lot would destabilize
the foundation.
But she praised the project. “I think it looks amazing,” she said.
The residents will be moved around the building as the work is done, though
some may need to leave the apartment altogether for a time. The project is
expected to start in May or June and end in September of 2011. |