After months of negotiations and court hearings, a revitalization project in Clay County is ready to take the next steps. The group 1 Clay County, or 1CC, is working on projects like a new farmers market facility, street-scaping and economic developments in Manchester.
Part of that process was relocating residents in apartments on Bridge Street. City of Manchester Tourism Director Tim Parks is on the 1CC board. He said the group brought renderings of the plans they had for the area months ago, but he thinks some of the residents couldn’t believe it.
“When some people saw those renderings they were like, ‘there's no way’. But I think now they're saying, ‘Hey, this is coming. This progress is actually coming here. It's gonna happen.’ Small town in eastern Kentucky sometimes, you know, you wonder if this stuff is really gonna happen. But this is really gonna happen,” said Parks.
The apartment building is set to be torn down in late September or early October to make room for new buildings.
Park said the city, Volunteers of America and Kentucky Homeplace have been working to move all the Bridge Street residents into nearby affordable housing.
“A lot of them did not want to leave. But now they're coming around they're seeing that they're gonna have better opportunities and safer places. So I feel very confident that in the next couple of weeks, we can get everyone relocated, and then we can get on the ball,” said Park.
Parks said the remaining five or so residents have seven days to officially move out.
The tourism director said there are units waiting for the remaining residents, should they accept them.
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