For nearly two years, students from two area community colleges tried their hand at restoring a dilapidated house in Park Forest. They measured, sawed, bolted, framed, nailed, patched, and rewired the shabby two-bedroom house at 305 Sauganash Street until it sparkled in the morning sun for all to see.
The project was the first home rehabbed by the South Suburban Trades Initiative, which provides on-site construction experience to those in Prairie State College’s HVAC program and South Suburban College’s Construction Technology program, as well as apprentice programs run by the Plumbers, Electricians and Painters Union locals.
Park Forest created the program in 2018 with a matching grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s abandoned property program.
This was not just a fix-up DIY job at the house on Sauganash. The grant covered the exterior code-required repairs. The village’s expense included interior work, as well as the installation of a fire suppression system.
An open house Saturday showcased the renovation work, including that of a multi-generational pair of students.
South Suburban College students Abby Antoniazzi, 20, and Brenda Madding, 68, both of Midlothian, helped reconstruct the garage, from installing siding to electrical wiring.
For Antoniazzi, who said she enjoyed building tree houses as a child, this was just another step towards her goal of building energy efficient houses. Madding, on the other hand, enrolled in school in order to help in mission work being done by Faith United Methodist, her church in Orland Park.
Growing up, Antoniazzi said she would “look at any piece of wood and think what I can do with it,” adding that this was just another step in her goal of becoming a carpenter. During the summer, she worked at the Blue Island Public Works department, doing everything from mowing grass to junk removal.
“Girls, can do it, too,” she said.
Madding, who also took a course in welding, sees herself as using her newly acquired skills as a pathway to help others, perhaps, she hopes, in working with Habitat for Humanity’s home building projects. “Most of all, I came away with a great respect for roofers,” she said. Those bundles of shingles are really heavy.”
Park Forest, like other south suburban communities, was devastated by the housing crisis that followed in the wake of the 2008 recession as home values plummeted for the next half-decade. According to the community’s own figures, by 2014 there were 587 vacant homes in the village, more than 300 of which were in foreclosure, with the average home value sinking to $39,850.
Over the next five years, the village partnered with both the Cook County and South Suburban Land Bank, the Illinois Housing Development Authority and other groups to begin a massive project to stabilize the community. With the demolition of 94 blighted homes, the rehabbing of 74 houses, as well other incentive to buyers and builders, family home prices have risen steeply in the last 10 years. Figures supplied by the village claim the average market value of a single family home in the community is now $91,420.
The Georgetown Center on Education and Workforce, a non-partisan research institute, says there are about 30 million jobs paying an average of $55,000 a year that do not require a college degree. A 2018 study by the U.S. Department of Labor indicated Chicago area carpenters made more than $38 an hour and both electrician and plumbers earned more than $40 an hour. Couple that with an average debt load of $29,800 for college graduates, can lead one to the conclusion that trade skills are in constant demand.
The house on Sauganash will not be a one-and-done proposition. The trade initiative partnership between Park Forest and the schools continues with work underway on a similar house at 336 Early Street.
“It’s great to see the transition,” said Kenneth Webb Jr., a Construction 101 student at South Suburban College. He helped build the overhead soffits needed for the sprinkler system pipes that run throughout the home. “Working on the house gives you a hands-on idea what can be done.”
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown. He can be reached at Jerryshnay@gmail.com.
