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Organization will still be working on fundraising, though
The work's getting closer to completion at the site of Fairbanks Flats, but the work of the neighborhood committee that was instrumental in making the project a reality is hardly over.

“Oh, we're not done,” said Ken Ware, chair of the Fairbanks Flats Neighborhood Revitalization Group.

The neighborhood group will play a big role in bringing a historical marker to the Shore Drive neighborhood at Pride Park, across the street from Fairbanks Flats, said Ware. But for that, they need to do some fundraising.

“We've got lots of ideas, but we need some community support,” he said.

Ware said some fundraising ideas have been tossed around, including the sale of memorial bricks, similar to what is found leading up to the Harry Moore Pavilion at Riverside Park.

“People could buy a brick in honor of someone who used to live in the flats or in Beloit, or maybe a grandparent,” Ware said. “People want to know what they can do for the flats. This could be an idea.”

Those bricks, he said, could possibly lead from the flats to the park.

“We've got ideas,” he said.

The flats themselves are coming along great, he said.

“They're certainly coming along. You can drive by and really see the progress,” Ware said.

Mike Ash, project manager for Gorman and Company, the company spearheading the redevelopment project, said the redevelopment project is about 40 percent done. The units were targeted to be done in September or October, but Ash said they might be done ahead of schedule, as early as August.

Right now, the developers are seeking applicants for the 16 units, which consist of eight two-bedroom apartments and eight three-bedroom apartments.

“We're looking for people who are high quality,” Ash said. “People who would like living there, and are interested in rent to own.”

People have been inquiring about the units, particularly those who are interested in the rent to own option, he said. The units will be required to be rented for the first 15 years, but after that, residents will have the option of buying.

The flats, which were built in 1917, originally had 24 units total, but in the redevelopment that number was decreased to make the units larger and more marketable, he said.

The city acquired the vacant, dilapidated buildings in 1999, and they are on the National and Wisconsin Registers of Historic Places. The Fairbanks Flats are one of only two buildings in the United States constructed for segregated company housing.

That history has made an impact on Beloit College theater professor Amy Sarno, who is currently working on piecing together an educational theater piece about the Fairbanks Flats.

“I've been collecting oral histories from the Flats, and creating an educational piece that we'll eventually be able to travel with and talk about African-American migrations in small towns like Beloit.”

Sarno said a draft of the script is complete and is in the midst of rewrites.

Ash hopes the history, location and involvement of the neighborhood group will help make the redevelopment project a success.

“I think the location, if nothing else, will make them successful,” he said.

Fairbanks Flats is located along the river on Shore Drive.

“The quality of amenities and the rent to own option will also help people get in there,” he said.