A rebirth
A rebirth Sometimes things get so bad that the only option is to demolish the neighborhood and start all over again.
That’s exactly what the Fayette County Housing Authority did in tearing down the problem-plagued Lemon Wood Acres housing project and replacing it with the new Laurel Estates.
Officials recently held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for Laurel Estates, marking a new beginning for the North Union Township site.
The $13.5 million Laurel Estates project includes 56 townhouses, duplexes and single-family homes and represents hope that families will be able to raise their children there in a peaceful atmosphere.
The name Lemon Wood Acres alone is enough to conjure unpleasant memories in the area. Over the years, the area was the site of murders, drug deals and all sorts of criminal activity. State Rep. Deberah Kula, D-North Union Township, said just hearing the name sent chills down her spine. She heard many of the cases out of Lemon Wood Acres when she was a magisterial district judge and had wanted to operate the first bulldozer to demolish the place. And fittingly, she was on hand for the rebirth as Laurel Estates.
The days of Lemon Wood Acres are gone – and so too are the elements that made it so troubled. Bulldozers long ago knocked down the old barracks-style buildings and in their place have sprung beautiful brown, red and gray-sided units, each with its own yard.
The same 9-acre tract near the Laurel Highlands High School that used to feature 150 units, now includes only 56. This far less congested setup should be another element to help the neighborhood from returning to its old ways.
The new homes, sidewalks and yards of Laurel Estates are a huge improvement over old Lemon Wood Acres. The homes , varying in size from one to four bedrooms, appear to be a great place to raise a family with children safely darting between yards and running along the sidewalks.
Members of the housing authority under the stellar leadership of Executive Director Tom Harkless are to be commended for coming up with such an innovative housing development. To their credit they didn’t just try and make cosmetic improvements. No, they went for the whole ball of wax and the result is a great opportunity, not only for the residents of Laurel Estates, but also for the entire area surrounding the housing project.
The criminal element, which took hold at Lemon Wood Acres, not only doomed the projects there but surrounding neighborhoods where residents saw the value of their homes plummet over the years. Lemon Wood Acres was so bad that no one wanted to live anyway near the place. Long-time residents in surrounding neighborhoods were stuck as no one wanted to move into the area.
So now the people living in Laurel Estates along residents of surrounding neighborhoods will have an opportunity to start all over and build something good for everyone.
But it will be up to the residents to make sure that the criminal elements that corrupted Lemon Wood Acres never gets a foothold in Laurel Estates. So much is at stake. If it succeeds, the lives of generations of people could be changed forever for the better. If it doesn’t work, though, those generations of people will be doomed to the same misery which enveloped Lemon Wood Acres.
Which way will it go? No one knows for sure, but one thing for certain is that all eyes will be on this grand experiment in the coming years to see if such a crime-ridden area can be truly transformed.