Sledgehammer start to Miller transformation

Posing with sledgehammers for a ceremonial start to the Miller Asbury senior community housing project in the old Miller School Friday are (from left) Greencastle/ Putnam County Development Center Director Bill Dory, City Councilor Jinsie Bingham, property manager Mark Valenti, City Attorney Laurie Hardwick, Milestone Ventures principal Carla Naum, Beyond Homeless Executive Director Tanis Monday, Roseolee Eckert, Chamber Executive Director Tammy Johnson, former teachers Joy Marley and Phyllis Kirby, Kim Hall, former teacher Harry Kirby, Milestone Ventures principal Chuck Heintzelman, City Planner Shannon Norman, Mayor Sue Murray and neighbors Dan Merrell, Ellen and Bob Sedlack. (Photo by ERIC BERNSEE)

Morphing old Miller Elementary School into the Miller Asbury senior rental community may be quite the groundbreaking project for Greencastle but it was sledgehammers rather than shovels that went to work Friday afternoon.

Representatives of Milestone Ventures, the Indianapolis firm undertaking the ambitious redevelopment project, were joined for the occasion by city officials, neighbors and former faculty members who once taught at Miller School at 522 Anderson St., Greencastle.

But it was Mayor Sue Murray who got to take the ceremonial first swings of the sledgehammer Friday at the wall of an old building addition being razed to accommodate renovation of the historic school and add a new two-story wing to the southeast side of the building.

Swinging a sledgehammer Friday like she means business, Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray takes a crack at knocking a hole in the wall of an addition at the old Miller School site to be razed to make way for the Miller Asbury apartment project. (photo by ERIC BERNSEE)

Plans for the Miller Asbury apartment project include 12 one-bedroom units and 18 two-bedroom units for persons age 55 and up or 62 and up. A 12-month construction period is foreseen with completion due in

October 2015.

"Hopefully we'll all gather back together in about a year," Milestone Ventures principal Chuck Heintzelman said, "and the mayor can cut the ribbon next time."

(photo by ERIC BERNSEE)

Mayor Murray spoke on behalf of the city, recalling how Greencastle officials were surprised to learn back in 2012 that the building was actually the property of the City of Greencastle, not the school corporation.

"It's not very often you get a surprise like that," she said. "Surprise, you now own an old building full of asbestos."

The building, however, has "turned out to be a wonderful, wonderful blessing for the city and the neighborhood and the park," Mayor Murray said.

Asbestos abatement, however, is complete and Heintzelman said Milestone Ventures "is very appreciative" of local efforts and called the transformation from abandoned school to senior community "an exciting process."

He then offered to escort interested persons into the old school for a walk down

memory lane.

Among those wandering from room to room were Joy Marley and Phyllis and Harry Kirby, all of whom taught at Miller School at one time.

Marley made a beeline for her old classroom at the east end of the building, pointing out some of the less-than-modern amenities.

"We only had two electrical outlets in the whole classroom," she smiled, "and one of those was in the coat closet.

"We used to have extension cords running everywhere and when the fire marshal would come, we'd have to roll them up."

Marley and the Kirbys also recalled how the boys' and girls' restrooms were in the lower level of the building, and when one of the youngsters needed to use the facilities, "they had to go a long way," Marley said.

"You just hoped they'd come back," she added.

Harry Kirby wandered into one of the classrooms and pointed at the window halfway up the wall.

"Those were education windows," he laughed. "The teachers could see out of them but the kids couldn't."

Meanwhile, not only is all the asbestos gone, Heintzelman said, but the characteristic Miller School smokestack -- something neighbors and old students and teachers often inquire about -- will soon follow suit.

"It's coming down sometime in the next 30 days,"

he predicted.

The neighborhood has been supportive of the project with longtime Anderson Street residents Bob and Ellen Sedlack and Dan Merrell, who resides directly across the street from the school, joining the ceremonial occasion Friday.

In fact, it was Bob Sedlack's appearance at a recent City Council meeting to address progress with Beyond Homeless that prompted Heintzelman to make a $1,000 donation to the homeless shelter Friday. Director Tanis Monday was there to receive the funds.

Back in October, the City Council unanimously approved a $250,000 purchase price on the Miller School property, a figure reportedly well above the appraised value on the building and nearly three-acre parcel of real estate adjacent to Robe-Ann Park.

Subsequently Milestone Ventures has received funding approval from the Indiana Housing Community Development Authority (IHCDA), which has allowed a $6 million loan, on a two-year payback, for the Miller Asbury apartment development. The project was previously awarded $681,399 in tax credits.

The building was last used as an educational facility in 2010 when it served as the Greencastle Community School Corporation offices. The last time the main building housed classes was in 1980, although the added

section was later home to the

Area 30 Career Center.