Restoration Works project turns Lansing tax foreclosures into classrooms

Restoration Works project turns Lansing tax foreclosures into classrooms
Students help breathe new life into old homes

Laura Misjak
lmisjak@lsj.com
Lansing State Journal
March 25, 2011

The restoration of two nearly century-old vacant houses along East Kalamazoo Street in Lansing is more than a simple project to beautify the neighborhood.
They serve as learning laboratories for local college and high school students who are designing and rehabilitating the properties to be energy efficient while retaining their age-old charms.
A first of what organizers hope to be dozens of walk-throughs of the tax-foreclosed properties - located in the 1500 block of East Kalamazoo - was held Thursday afternoon.
Residents of Allen Neighborhood along with officials from Lansing Community College and the Ingham County Land Bank and others saw designs of how the gutted properties will appear after about two years of restoration work.
"We're here to allow the community a behind-the-scenes look at a restoration project they may normally be intimidated to explore," said Jennie Grau, Allen Neighborhood Center's restoration works project coordinator.
She said community workshops will be held at the homes in conjunction with whatever projects LCC and Eaton Intermediate School District students are working on at the time, such as installing windows or building a deck.
Eric Schertzing, chairman of the Ingham County Land Bank, said the two tax-foreclosed homes would have been demolished but members of the Allen Neighborhood Center and George Berghorm, chairman of LCC's Department of Environmental, Design and Building Technologies, came up with the idea to make the restoration a learning opportunity.
"It doesn't get any more real than this," Schertzing said. "I'm hoping LCC can grow their capacity to do more projects like this."