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Once again, Lower Ninth Ward has houses
They're the first two since the devastation of Katrina.
Associated Press
Published February 23, 2007
NEW ORLEANS - Two residents got the keys Thursday to what are believed to be the first homes built in the Lower Ninth Ward since Hurricane Katrina hit 18 months ago, and officials hope the houses - elevated against floodwaters and designed to withstand 160 mph winds - will help spark a revival in the devastated neighborhood. "It's overwhelming," said one of the new homeowners, Gwendolyn Guice, who found the design of her house "kind of strange" but all right. "I went and got my Kleenex to wipe my eyes." The homes resemble the wood-frame shotgun style prevalent in many New Orleans neighborhoods, in which rooms are built in a straight line from front to back. But instead of the traditional cypress wood exterior, they are covered with mold- and termite-resistant siding. A community group called ACORN Housing lined up financing for the two houses, valued at about $125,000 each, and the homeowners will have to repay the organization. The view from the back porch of the new home built for Josephine Butler, who lost the house her husband and brother built decades ago, is one of mudholes, a debris pile, crumpled or vacant buildings and tangles of vines. ACORN Housing has lined up $500,000 for interest-free loans and acquired about 100 blighted properties in the Lower Ninth, with plans to build houses there, too.
[Last modified February 23, 2007, 01:20:57]
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