ustin’s Housing &Re d e v e l o pm e n tAuthority and

Riverland CommunityCollege are busy makingsomeone’s dream homecome to life.

The HRA andRiverland’s Carpentry andElectrician Programs havepartnered to renovate a one-level home at 1003 EighthAve. NW, which until lastsummer had been MowerCounty property.

“It’s not the largest housein the world, but it’s a verynice house,” said KarenMattson, Family HousingManager.

Mattson fell in love withthe circa-1915 Arts andCrafts home after looking atvacant lots last spring.Leaning Tree LLC boughttwo HRA homes east of TheHormel Institute last yearwhen the company beganpurchasing land for a pro-posed Institute expansionandMattsonwas looking foravailable lots to replace thelost houses. After obtaininga list of county property, shefound the house and imme-diately fell in love with it.

Mattson convinced part-timeExecutiveDirector JimHurm and Riverlandinstructors to invest in thehouse. The last hurdlebefore construction beganwas buying the home fromthe Mower County Board ofCommissioners, which theHRA did for a little morethan $1,500 last summer.

Riverland students haveworked on the home sinceDecember, which meansthey’ve created new floorplans, tore out existingplumbing and some walls,and rewired everything. Infact, there’s little that isn’tbeing reworked or replacedin the home.

“This is a project that wecannot duplicate in ourshop,” said Dan Rayman,

Riverland Electricalinstructor.

Many starting electri-cians will work on renova-tions similar to this homeduring their first few years,according toR a y m a n .Riverland stu-dents havealready hadplenty of prac-tice climbinginto the attic anddown throughwood and plas-ter wallsrewiring thehome, even redo-ing the wiringalong the ceilingat one point.

“I like it,”said CoryMonson, second-year Riverlandstudent. “I was a carpenterbefore so I’ve done a lot ofthis kind of work.”

Riverland students haveplenty of work to go beforethe home is ready, however.Mattson said students hopeto put up a new roof byMayand the front porch willhave to be redone at somepoint as well. Riverland stu-

dents are working throughsubcontractors, such as FoxElectric, in order to legallycomplete the job – thoughRiverland students aredoing the work and the sub-

contractors areproviding theparts.

Once the homeis finished, it willbe a two-bedroom,on e - b a t h ro omhome perfect for ayoung family,according toMattson. Therewill be a wide-open space perfectfor a living roomand dining roomalong with akitchen on themain floor, with asmall storagespace in the attic.

The basement will haveenough space for a familyroom, though Riverlandstudents will leave much ofthe basement work up tothe next homeowner. Asidefrom putting in plumbingfor a bathroom and anegress window in case theowners want to add anoth-er bedroom, the home’s

basement will go unfin-ished.

Once construction isdone, the home will beready for market. The HRAand Riverland will put onan open house and list it forsale, presumably to a mod-erate income family,according to Mattson. Inaddition tomassive renova-tions, the house has a spa-cious backyard and is locat-ed close to SumnerElementary School, a plusfor prospective homeown-ers.

“This is such a gosh-darn nice neighborhood,”Mattson said.

AUSTIN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012

507-433-0235301 North Main Street • Austin, MN

www.usbank.com

MEMBER

Tom Wilker, Riverland Carpentry instructor, explains the process his students will perform to remodel this Austin home. RIGHT: Riverland carpentry students work on remodeling a home Mondaymorning in northwest Austin.

One family’s dreamHome renovation key learning project for students

Riverland Community College carpentry students are remodel-ing this home at 1008 Eighth Ave. NW in Austin. The Housingand Redevelopment Authority purchased the home from thecounty and will resell it when the remodel is complete.

Story by Trey Mewes • Photos by Matt Peterson

“This is a

project

that we

can’t

duplicate

in our

shop.”

-DanRayman

Riverland

electrical

instructor