An extensive – and expensive – transformation will turn the century-old Moody Hospital building on North Alice Street into senior living apartments.
Dothan commissioners agreed on Tuesday to appropriate $1.64 million to the Dothan Downtown Redevelopment Authority to buy numerous properties needed to redevelop the block for the Moody Hospital project.
“We are talking about all the time in our strategic planning and in our business plans to revitalize some of our older neighborhoods and our older areas so this is just aligning what we’ve talked about doing, and putting it into action,” Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba said after the commission meeting ended. “So I’m extremely excited about it. I think that the money is well worth being spent.”
Project developers are being led by the Banyan Foundation, the same nonprofit group responsible for a similar transformation of the historic Howell School property into senior living apartments and the ongoing redevelopment of the former Johnson Homes public housing complex, now called Capstone at Kinsey Cove.
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Rob Coats, Banyan Foundation CEO, said plans are to create 58 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, slightly more than the 55 units constructed at the Howell School project.
Discussions and negotiations concerning the project started in October 2020 and has been a complicated process that depends on the approval of competitive federal tax credits, which could take up to a year. At that point, the city of Dothan will commit Community Block Development Grant monies of about $250,000 and around $700,000 from the general fund budget, City Manager Kevin Cowper told commissioners.
The Historical Preservation Committee recently submitted an application to get the Moody Hospital campus on the National Register of Historic Places.
The DDRA has already closed deals on seven properties and are still finalizing the acquisition of two more properties to have all the properties on the Moody Hospital block. If successful, the total investment in the project will amount to around $20 million, Cowper said.
“After the property is secured, we’ll move into the phase where we do some demolition of older homes,” Cowper said.
Coats said the organization is working to save some of the better-kept structures by moving them onto other properties, if possible.
Outgoing Commissioner Beth Kenward said she was very pleased on the Banyan Foundation’s work on the Howell School building and is looking forward to its continued redevelopment of older Dothan properties.
“It’s really refreshing when you guys can come in and take something that has a lot of historical significance especially when you’re talking about our senior population, that’s something that’s very near and dear to my heart,” she said.
Once the project receives approval for federal tax credits, construction will begin in the fourth quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023 and take about a year to complete.
Also during the city commission meeting, Saliba read proclamations for “Hunger Action Month,” “Constitution Week,” and “Suicide Prevention Month.”
In other business, commissioners:
Approved an application for a retail beer and retail table wine license (off-premises only) for Linden Grocery at 803 Linden Street by Harpreet Kaur.
Approved an application for a retail beer and retail table wine license (on- or off-premises) for Dante’s Pizza at 4177 Montgomery Highway, Suite 6, by Osvaldo Clemente.
Granted cash appropriations to various agencies for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 (tabled on Sept. 7).
Canvassed the results of the City of Dothan Municipal Runoff Election held Sept. 14.
Approved an updated agreement with the State of Alabama Department of Revenue to provide for the exchange of tax returns and information.
Approved the updated Dothan Leisure Services fee schedule for programs, athletics, facilities, and field rentals.
Accepted additional funding for the Child Nutrition Program in the amount of $37,751.89 through the Child and Adult Care Food Program Emergency Operational Costs Reimbursement Program, and appropriated funds for said program.
Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dothan Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. to support the turf installation project at James O. Oates Park.
Awarded the bid and entered into a contract with Saliba Construction Co., Inc. for the assembly, management, and disassembly of the Waddlington Park Ice Rink project at a lump sum cost of $191,710.
Entered into an agreement with the Southern Alabama Regional Council on Aging (SARCOA) to administer and operate the Nutrition/Transportation Program of Title III of the Older Americans Act.
Renewed the contract with SARCOA to receive funding from the Houston County Tobacco Tax Fund for senior citizen programs.
Entering into a contract with RDG Planning & Design for a City Center Block Design for a fixed fee not to exceed the amount of $105,000.
Awarded the bid, entering into a contract, and issuing a Notice to Proceed to Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center of Dothan for ground maintenance and litter pickup in the amount of $532,862.45.
Approved the final summary change order of the B0-21 Comprehensive Rehabilitation Project with BLD Services, LLC, which results in a cost decrease for the total contract bid in the amount of $51,909.20, making the final adjusted contract price $4,542,157.37.
Approved a final summary change order with Mid-South Paving, Inc. for the City Street Resurfacing Project 2020, which results in a cost increase for the total contract bid in the amount of $239,290.74, making the final adjusted contract price $2,255,965.74.
Issued an emergency purchase order to Blankenship Contracting, Inc. in the amount of $170,008.23 for additional sewer repair work needed on U.S .231 North, and appropriated funds for said repair.
Awarded the bid, entered into a contract, approved Change Order #1, and issued a Notice to Proceed and purchase order to L & K Contracting Company, Inc. of Dothan, Alabama for the Baywood Sewer Extension project in the amount of $1,001,012.
Entered into a Community Traffic Safety Program Grant Participation Agreement with Enterprise State Community College through its Southeast Alabama Highway Safety Office for participation in the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Law Enforcement Traffic Safety grant programs.
Accepted funding from Enterprise Ozark Community College through its Southeast Alabama Highway Safety Office in the amount of $133,216.41 for participation in the ADECA Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Grant Programs for FY 2021, and appropriated funds for said grant.
Entered into an agreement with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind to provide interpreter services for a one-year period at a cost of $55 per hour.
Entered into an agreement with Axon Enterprise, Inc. for five years at a total cost of $889,749.96 for a Taser conducted energy device system.
Entering into an interlocal purchasing agreement with The Interlocal Purchasing System.
Re-appointed Mark Saliba as a member of the Southeast Alabama Gas District Board.
Appointed Bart Boothe as a supernumerary member of the Dothan Planning Commission.
Approving payment of invoices for the month of August 2021 in the amount of $17,724,271.34
Sable Riley is a Dothan Eagle staff writer and can be reached at sriley@dothaneagle.com or 334.712.7915. Support her work and that of other Eagle journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at dothaneagle.com.