Dear editor,
Forty-seven years ago, my family and I moved from Colborn to Garfield Street. At that time, there were only a few buildings north of us — the nursing home built by Jim Lewis, the Nazarene Church, and Larry Ryherd’s home.
There were no other buildings or houses beyond the nursing home. Not too long after we moved there, efforts began to attract new industries to town and Willard Hoard began building affordable homes to meet the demand.
Mr. Hoard went to the planning commission and asked if he could build homes in the cul-de-sac area north of the nursing home. The commission gave him permission to build, without a second exit point. Later, an emergency egress was added across to the cemetery, which is not the best answer. (As an aside, Iola has allowed developers/builders to build homes other times without another egress point.)
Mr. Hoard’s secret to building affordable homes was to build the foundation and the exterior and interior walls, and let the homeowner finish the inside. Most of the original homeowners there have left and other cul-de-sacs have grown inside of the original.
The idea of a proposed apartment complex devaluing surrounding properties is a moot point since the nursing home was built before Mr. Hoard’s homes were ever built and new homes have continued to be built in the surrounding area.
Today, the former nursing home is a complete eyesore. Doing nothing about it, in my opinion, is what devalues the homes around it. That an investor is now eager to convert the nursing home into 50 apartments should be welcome news.
Long-term, if Iola doesn’t address its housing shortage, big business will invest in other communities because the workers need access to affordable housing near where they work.
Iola is a wonderful town that I love, but we need businesses to invest in our town and we need affordable housing for their workers. Without these improvements, the future of Iola is less certain and the home values that we all want to maintain/increase will only decrease.
Donna Houser,
Iola, Kan.
