By Dakota Antelman, Contributing Writer
Marlborough – A larger than expected crowd called for additional renovations at Marlborough’s Pleasant Street affordable housing complex Oct. 2 as several state politicians visited to discuss much needed interior work on the buildings.
For roughly an hour, State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and State Rep. Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough) toured the complex, spoke to residents and heard them voice their concerns to Executive Director of the Marlborough Community Development Association Douglas Bushman. Those concerns focused particularly on lack of parking and old windows in units left unaddressed even by the renovation plan.
All this came after months of battles in city and state offices to fund the planned $5.5 million project. So far, the renovations will focus on kitchen and bath remodeling, asbestos removal, plumbing upgrades, improvements to bathroom ventilation, fire alarm systems and sprinklers as well as the addition of new entry doors.
“Your elected officials at the state level and the local level have really delivered getting all this funded,” Bushman said.
For Eldridge, who, in tandem with Gregoire and Statehouse colleague Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury), helped secure $3.3 million in state funding for the project, the work is part of a larger focus on affordable housing in his district.
“I’m a big proponent on affordable housing,” he said. “Marlborough has had a large stock of affordable housing for a long time. Not all the communities I represent do.”
For all the work to fund the project, however, residents said it does not go far enough.
One resident, Dell Garry, said the windows in her unit, which were last replaced in 1980, are difficult to open. She said she has fallen twice trying to operate them, once suffering a broken ankle that landed her in the hospital for multiple nights.
Though window replacements are included as an “alternate” in the current project plan, Garry said she hoped it could be a priority.
Several others also noted a severe lack of parking that has already inhibited ambulance and fire department access to housing units.
“We would rather have better parking than new cabinets,” said a resident who asked she only be identified as Linda. “I understand that’s not how it works but it’s a problem.”
In response, Bushman assured residents that their local and state leaders would push for those renovations but also explained that much of the money paying for the current project is specifically earmarked for interior renovations only.
Months into the long process of renovating the Pleasant St. affordable housing complex, state officials said they were grateful to residents for speaking up to even get their interior renovations funded.
In the end, standing before the packed common room at Pleasant St. Bushman too thanked residents for speaking up, in the past, present, and future.
“You guys keep me on my toes,” he said. “This is how public housing is supposed to work. You guys are my bosses.”
After the meeting, Bushman commented further on the issue.
“I fully understand the frustration of some of the tenants but it has taken us at least three years to get all of the funding for the majority of the exterior and interior improvements. We have been working hand-in-hand with the MA Department of Housing & Community Development to secure the almost $7 million in funds. I want to thank Mayor Vigeant who is chair of the MCDA and the Marlborough City Council that provided $400,000 in additional funds and the state delegation provided another $100,000.
“While we are still short funds for parking improvements and windows we are confident moving forward that additional funds can be procured to address some of these needs. We were truly impressed at the turnout of the meeting and the feedback we received from the tenant association. Overall it was very informative and positive.”
