Students restore LMI house in Kalona

KALONA — An initiative between the Iowa City Homebuilders Association (ICHBA,) city of Kalona, ECICOG, and a handful of other local groups has recently wrapped up construction on a home in Kalona. The kicker: the work was done almost entirely by high school students.

Tim Rouse is an industrial technology teacher in Durant, and served as the project’s supervisor. He said it gave students an unbeatable experience.

“We’re doing everything we can to get the kids some more field time in the trade,” he said. “We bring in electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, concrete guys, and the kids work right alongside them as well, so they get a little bit of what I call flavor of what it’s like … and how all the trades work together.”

Rouse said it was rewarding work for him.

“I’m an industrial arts teacher … so this is what I do during the school year,” he said. “There’s so much more that you can do here that you can’t do in a classroom.”

The project involved tearing down outbuildings and constructing a garage, installing new flooring, walls, windows, countertops, and cabinets, and fixing a hole in the wall. In total, the effort took a few months, starting on June 9 and concluding with an open house Aug. 16.

The ICHBA has done several projects like this one in Iowa City. HBA Executive Officer Karyl Bohnsack said the value of doing it in Kalona was brought to their attention before this year’s building season.

“We discovered that the city of Kalona was in dire need of housing for workforce in the community,” she said. “It just kind of all grew together, and three months later, now we have a house.”

Bohnsack said the program was also beneficial to the group’s real estate interests in the long run by setting kids up for success in the industry after gradation.

“We need workers, the members of the Homebuilders Association need employees,” she said. “The current stock, they’re all working, so we do events for middle school kids, for elementary school kids, to get tools in their hands, to pique their interest into the skilled trades.”

Still, she said it felt good on a philanthropic level as well.

“Our homes are in the community, our members live in the community,” she said. “To have this program to better our community is a win-win for everyone.”

The city of Kalona funded most of the initiative with its Low to Moderate Income housing funds, as well as some ARPA money and revenue from local-option sales tax. City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said the municipal government purchased the home, construction materials, and paid for the labor, including students.

“It hits a lot of those marks,” he said. “It updates a home, it allows for an affordable home model to be on the market, and hopefully we get a first-time homebuyer and we’re able to help facilitate that. The goal would be that we’re able to put those resources back into the community again to do other projects.”

Schlabaugh said local contractors stepped up to the plate to help with the house.

"(They) provided a lot of in-kind work, we had quite a few contractors that really wanted to be engaged in it,“ he said. ”They did it at no cost to the city, so … we got more for our dollar because of those in-kind donations, and labor that was donated. So it’s been really great to see our community embrace this and run with it.“

Contractors said they were just as enthusiastic as everyone else involved.

“Myself and my crew … helped pour and finish the garage floor,” said Brendan Serum, from English River Concrete and Construction. “Tim and the students did a great job with the prep work for the garage.”

The home is expected to hit the market at a price of $175,000 or less, with ECICOG offering a homebuyer assistance program to boot.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com