Union Street in front of Armory Square Apartments is quiet on a late afternoon in April.
Chapter Three
Dorn said in an interview that he and his advisory board had serious reservations about the project, for a number of reasons. He characterized the scheme for financing the renovation as "precarious," questioning particularly the wisdom of relying on a yet-to-be-awarded $1.2 million federal earmark.
Dorn added that the Armory Square renovation could take a large sum from a relatively small pool of cash available for projects statewide. "The state's resources that are being asked for here — which will not be available to other communities, by the way — are very significant," he said. "It's a very big project." Beyond that, Dorn said he worries about a scenario in which costly renovations do not solve the building's problems with drugs and crime.
David Mace, spokesman for the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said the net loss of low-income housing units — the plans call for dropping the number of apartments from 72 to 58, and converting some of the remaining units to market-rate rentals — is another sticking point.
"The loss of units and how to assist the residents there who would be displaced if the units were lost is a primary concern," Mace said. "Affordable housing in the Upper Valley, as I'm sure you're aware, is in extremely short supply."
Due to such concerns, Dorn said, his advisory board has chosen not to recommend funding approval for the project as currently planned. He said his office is talking about its concerns with the developers, and he said there was still a chance — "Anything's possible" — that an agreement could be reached in time for the nonprofits to finalize their deal with Berezin this summer.
"We're aware that there are some time challenges, but those are secondary to the broader financial-model issues," Dorn said. "Nobody's walking away from the project, it's just that there's a lot of anxiety."
He said that he had toured the complex and agreed with local officials that one way or another, the status quo needs to change: "I'm concerned, as is the governor, about the conditions that people are living under there."
Julie leafs through the yellow pages, looking for horse farms. She says she'd like to find something akin to ranch work; she misses the horses and outdoor life she knew in Montana and California. On this early afternoon, at home, jobless, she says she was never that fond of caring for some of the older patients at Hanover Terrace Healthcare.
"It's very hard for me to deal with someone they should just let die," she says. "To me it's cruel."
Julie was able to buy enough food to get through last weekend, as she had hoped, with some help from her sister, Cheryl, and another friend. Now Cheryl is looking into getting her a job at the 12 Percent Solution convenience store in Cornish, where Cheryl is a clerk. Something will work out, Julie says. Something has to.
Obstacles continue to crop up. Julie went to the doctor complaining of abdominal pain this month. A definitive diagnosis has not been made, but she is undergoing tests, and is expects to undergo surgery sometime this summer.
She is not the only one with health problems. Timmer, who recently turned six, has been diagnosed with a congenital brain malformation. Doctors are not yet sure how serious it is. His malady has manifested itself for months in erratic fevers and strange bouts of bad coordination. He's been in and out of the hospital for tests this year, and has missed a lot of school. He may ultimately have to have brain surgery. As Julie awaits her surgery, Timmer waits for his own MRI exam, scheduled for the end of July.