New Colts coach to visit Beloit for housing grand opening

The Business Journal, June 16, 2009

Indianapolis Colts’ head coach and Beloit native Jim Caldwell will be the main speaker at the grand opening of the $2.5 million renovation of the historic Fairbanks Flats Rowhomes in downtown Beloit on the banks of the Rock River.

The Fairbanks Flats Rowhomes, redeveloped by Madison-based Gorman & Co., is a low-income project with 16 rent-to-own 2- and 3-bedroom apartments that range in price from $570 to $725 a month.

The Fairbanks Flats Rowhomes, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Wisconsin State Register, were originally built in 1919 for employees of Fairbanks Morse, a Beloit engine manufacturer. The company recruited African-Americans from the South to replace the white labor force that had left to serve in World War I.

The number of African-Americans working at Fairbanks, many coming from Pontotoc, Miss, grew from six in 1915 to 250 in 1917. A handful of African-American families had lived in Beloit since the mid-1800s, but the population grew immensely with Fairbanks Flats serving as a gateway to the city, “an Ellis Island,” as one past resident called it. Within a decade, nearly 1,000 African-Americans called Beloit home.

The renovations are possible with help from the city of Beloit, a $2 million grant from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority and grassroots community efforts, according to a Gorman spokesman.

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