DARLINGTON - Demolition began this week on three buildings in the 400 block of Darlington's Main Street.
The $5 million project meets three needs, officials said: a dental clinic for Medicaid eligible and low income people, a new senior citizen housing option and a boost in activity to the heart of the downtown.
"First of all, it will revitalize the downtown with a beautiful building," said Suzi Osterday, program manager of the Darlington Chamber of Commerce and Main Street program.
The upper stories will have 17 cooperative senior citizen housing units, some facing Main Street and others facing a residential area.
"It's going to be an ideal spot for senior citizens. If you want to be a snowbird, you don't have the upkeep of a house and yard," Osterday said.
And the units are within walking distance of the library, courthouse, senior citizen center, wellness center, shopping, walking path and festival grounds, she said.
The ground floor will house a four-chair dental office that could serve 15,000 eligible people in Lafayette, Green, Iowa, Grant and Richland counties, said Wally Orzechowski, executive director of the Southwest Community Action Program.
"There is nothing like this at all in southwest Wisconsin," he said.
The clinic will be a satellite of the Beloit Area Community Health Center.
"People who are on Medicaid have a very difficult problem getting dental service largely because the Medicaid rates are so low" that few dentists serve that population, he said.
Low income people may also be served on a sliding scale, and 10 percent of the clinic space will be devoted to medical care.
The dental clinic will employ one to two dentists, plus hygienists and support staff.
Construction will begin as soon as the demolition is completed and the weather permits.
"Of course you hate to tell people their property is blighted," but the project will replace three buildings with one three-story building that will blend with the Victorian look of Main Street, Alderman Bev Anderson said.
The difference between condominiums and cooperative housing is in the financing structure, Anderson said. Some people have moved away from Darlington because a cooperative housing option wasn't previously available, she said.
"There are houses for sale in town, but that isn't what people want," Anderson said.
No units were pre-sold, but marketing is about to begin. Residents must be 55 or older.
The project is a collaborative effort of the city, state, Southwest CAP, the Beloit Clinic and local development groups, Anderson said.
"The impetus of the whole thing is that store owners used to live upstairs on Main Street, and there was a lot of activity," Anderson said. "We're trying to get that back."
The $5 million project meets three needs, officials said: a dental clinic for Medicaid eligible and low income people, a new senior citizen housing option and a boost in activity to the heart of the downtown.
"First of all, it will revitalize the downtown with a beautiful building," said Suzi Osterday, program manager of the Darlington Chamber of Commerce and Main Street program.
The upper stories will have 17 cooperative senior citizen housing units, some facing Main Street and others facing a residential area.
"It's going to be an ideal spot for senior citizens. If you want to be a snowbird, you don't have the upkeep of a house and yard," Osterday said.
And the units are within walking distance of the library, courthouse, senior citizen center, wellness center, shopping, walking path and festival grounds, she said.
The ground floor will house a four-chair dental office that could serve 15,000 eligible people in Lafayette, Green, Iowa, Grant and Richland counties, said Wally Orzechowski, executive director of the Southwest Community Action Program.
"There is nothing like this at all in southwest Wisconsin," he said.
The clinic will be a satellite of the Beloit Area Community Health Center.
"People who are on Medicaid have a very difficult problem getting dental service largely because the Medicaid rates are so low" that few dentists serve that population, he said.
Low income people may also be served on a sliding scale, and 10 percent of the clinic space will be devoted to medical care.
The dental clinic will employ one to two dentists, plus hygienists and support staff.
Construction will begin as soon as the demolition is completed and the weather permits.
"Of course you hate to tell people their property is blighted," but the project will replace three buildings with one three-story building that will blend with the Victorian look of Main Street, Alderman Bev Anderson said.
The difference between condominiums and cooperative housing is in the financing structure, Anderson said. Some people have moved away from Darlington because a cooperative housing option wasn't previously available, she said.
"There are houses for sale in town, but that isn't what people want," Anderson said.
No units were pre-sold, but marketing is about to begin. Residents must be 55 or older.
The project is a collaborative effort of the city, state, Southwest CAP, the Beloit Clinic and local development groups, Anderson said.
"The impetus of the whole thing is that store owners used to live upstairs on Main Street, and there was a lot of activity," Anderson said. "We're trying to get that back."