Construction under way on eight-unit expansion at Russell Meadows

Construction has begun on an eight-unit expansion at the Russell Meadows housing complex in Kincardine.

Jack Poulin of the Russell Meadows Non-Profit Accommodations Inc. board of directors, said Reid's Heritage Homes of Port Elgin is building the units, directly east of the existing structure.

Billed as affordable housing units, they are being built in a north-south townhouse structure, with four units down each side, and will have access to all the facilities at Russell Meadows, said Poulin. The units are about 700-square-feet in size, and are all single-bedroom, with two fully handicapped-accessible.

Russell Meadows was built in 1991 and has 35 residential units, Poulin said. Of these, two are handicapped-accessible, 16 are one-bedroom, and the rest are an assortment of two-, three- and four-bedroom.

He said the board operates as a non-profit organization, providing rent-geared-to-income housing as well as market-rate housing at the complex. The expansion is considered affordable housing, charged at 80 per cent of market rate, and the target market is seniors and low-income individuals.

Poulin said Russell Meadows purchased the adjacent property five years ago from the Municipality of Kincardine, for $1, and had plans of building a playground. However, since there is such a need for affordable housing, and the province was offering funding through Bruce County housing, the board switched gears and decided on the expansion instead.

Through the hard work of the board and its consultant, the project was refinanced, the contract was awarded, and work began. Depending on the weather, the building should be completed by the first week of November, and the board hopes to have it fully-occupied when it opens. Bruce County Housing is doing the administration work for the expansion.

Thanks to a provincial government grant, Russell Meadows received a grant to spruce up the original housing complex, with new windows and doors, and upgrades to the insulation in the attics. The parking lot is slated to be redone in the spring.