Redwood HRA, others in Lakeside effort are 2017 Gazette People of the Year

Determination.

Dedication.

Persistence.

Perseverance.

Any of these words and others like them can be used to describe the efforts of a group of Redwood Falls individuals who were tasked with ensuring a local housing project damaged by a fire in 2013 would open again.

That group, known as the Redwood Falls Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), celebrated the fruits of its efforts this past fall when the ribbon was cut officially opening the Lakeside Manor housing facility once again.

The process toward that end was not an easy one, as it took more than four years to move through the red tape from the time of the fire in January of 2013 until the day the first person moved into the newly remodeled housing facility in August of this year.

Phil Johanneck, one of the members of the HRA who has been involved in the remodeling process throughout the past four years, recently talked about the project from the time of the fire until the reopening.

Johanneck recalled getting the call from the staff of Lakeside about the fire, adding the HRA was determined from the very beginning to open the facility once again.

Johanneck recognized the efforts of the community that first night in January 2013 when law enforcement, emergency personnel and the community as a whole responded to help in a quick fashion. Most of the structure itself was unharmed in the fire, although smoke damage was prevalent throughout all of the floors.

The building had to be completely gutted down to the concrete walls, and during the $5 million renovation, everything from new electrical to the installation of a sprinkler system was included. That funding came from various sources, including insurance, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, as well as a small cities allocation from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

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